What You Really Want
by Fantasy Fan Girl
Summary: She was happy, at least she thought she was. But now, something was wrong, something was off. Why would it be that she'd prefer to hang out with a Soul, a friend, rather than her boyfriend. "Soul, are you in love with me." "What do you really want then Maka?" A story about how sometimes what you think you want, is completely different than what you really do. Soul/Maka
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Soul Eater. This entire story is written but not edited. I will be trying to update about once a week.

What You Really Want

Chapter 1

She supposed that the first time that she saw him, she didn't even notice him. After all, it had been the first day of class and Maka had been a bit preoccupied with finding her best friend Tsubaki. The two of them only shared the one history class together, and it was only because it was a core class that they both needed despite their different majors. This also meant that there were about 200 other students in the class with Maka and Tsubaki. Therefore, it was no wonder that Maka didn't remember Soul from the moment that she saw him.

With such striking features as stark white hair and deep red eyes, one might have thought that Soul was hard to miss, but Maka could only guess that she had seen him only for a split second that first day before continuing her search for Tsubaki.

Maka had been preoccupied at the moment. Not to mention, she already had a boyfriend. Hiro.

Hiro and Maka fit really well together. He was a very nice and sweet boy who was practically the definition of chivalry. Since their first date, he had always held open doors for her and pulled out her chair to sit in. After Maka's childhood of her parents' divorce and her father's womanizing ways, there was nothing she felt like she wanted more than a man who would treat her with the respect that she deserved.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

"Hey Tsubaki! Ready to study some History and ace the exam on Monday," Maka asked bounding up to her friend in their Library study room. It wasn't theirs per say, as they did not own it, but Maka had managed to book the room for them at the beginning of the semester for every Thursday from 11 to 1 o'clock.

"Of course Maka," Tsubaki looked up at her excitable friend and smiled gently, "though knowing you I bet you were ready for the test a week ago at least."

Maka simply waved off Tsubaki's comment, "Doesn't matter if I was, there is no such thing as being too prepared."

Tsubaki giggled softly, "Very true. Let's get started."

So they did. They went over all the key terms that their professor had given to them on the review sheet and double checked all the dates that they had for each as well as comparing their answers, and by in large, it could have been classified as one of their typical Thursday study group secessions. However, Maka could tell that something was off with Tsubaki.

The way the girl was checking her phone for the time about every two minutes and always bit her lip while doing so, was the first thing that Maka perceived was different than usual. It was true that Maka had the bad habit of getting lost in studying and losing track of time, but she wasn't so bad that Tsubaki needed to check the time that much. Obviously, something else was on the Japanese girl's mind. Maka realized exactly what it was when Tsubaki's cheeks tinted into a light pink at about 11:45 when she looked down at her clock once again.

"You have a date."

Tsubaki jumped at the sudden accusation and immediately floundered about for the right words. "No.. well… it's just… I-"

"It's so obvious," Maka giggled. "So tell me the details."

Now Maka had never exactly been the most girly of girls while growing up, but this was Tsubaki, and the one thing she was no matter what, was supportive of her friends. Plus, Tsubaki was obviously excited about this boy. After all, Maka hadn't seen a blush like that on her friend's face, ever since she'd had her first kiss back in junior high.

"Well," Tsubaki started slowly looking down at her hands. "You know that guy I've been crushing on in History class right?"

Maka tried not to make a face.

"He's not that bad Maka."

And apparently she failed.

"I know I know, he's just so loud and obnoxious and-"

"Confident," Tsubaki interrupted.

Maka sighed, "Okay, I'll admit he's confident, but what does this have to do with him."

"I'm meeting him for lunch today!" Tsubaki blurted out before slapping her hands over her mouth.

For a moment, Maka just sat their stunned while Tsubaki was frozen and sat staring at her best friend. "Why didn't you tell me sooner!" Maka replied smiling and thrilled for her friend. "Tell me how this happened. I'm so excited for you."

"I know," Tsubaki grinned finally dropping her hands to the side, and with that she began to explain.

She told Maka about how her and this guy, Black Star, had bumped into each other at the coffee shop downstairs in the library, and how he immediately asked her out on the spot when she listened to him the whole time they were waiting in line. Maka smiled at all the right places and giggled when Tsubaki told her how over the top he had been talking to her. When Tsubaki mentioned butterflies in her stomach and being nervous, Maka understood completely. After all, her and Hiro had started dating just this past summer, and she knew exactly what Tsubaki was talking about.

"So what time are you meeting him at," Maka asked excitedly.

"12:30."

"It's 12:15 right now Tsubaki," Maka's eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh, I have to go," Tsubaki immediately stood up and started rushing about the room gathering her things.

Maka laughed lightly, "Yeah you do."

Tsubaki suddenly froze and looked Maka in the eye, "I'm so sorry, I forgot to tell you I had to leave early today and I know how much you wanted to get this last study time in."

"Tsubaki," Maka said standing up herself as she gathered together her papers on the desk. "It's not a problem, I'm happy for you, plus now I get to see if I can hang out for a little bit with Hiro."

She sighed, "Thanks Maka, you're the best. I'll see you on Monday okay."

Maka grinned, "Yeah see you then and I want to hear all about it, okay."

Tsubaki only nodded as she headed out the door and made her way to her date. Sighing to herself, Maka quickly sent a text to Hiro asking if he wanted to get together that night for dinner. After that, she simply got out her other homework and got back to studying, because if there was one thing that was important to Maka, it was her 4.0 GPA.

Maka didn't get a response back from Hiro until the next day. Apparently he had been out with a couple of friends for lunch and hadn't gotten her message until it was too late. Maka wasn't upset with him. Yes, she was a little disappointed because after her talk with Tsubaki she had wanted to spend some time with her boyfriend, but things don't always go according to plan. Therefore, she went on with life, and the following Monday was the first time that she met him; that she met Soul.

It was tradition for her and Tsubaki to always meet up outside the classroom right after a History test and compare thoughts and opinions. When Maka looked up from her book, she wasn't surprised to see Tsubaki looking a little worse for the wear walking slowly out of the classroom.

Maka smiled, "It wasn't that bad was it?" she asked gingerly. After all, they'd had an hour to complete the exam and Maka had managed to finish it in about 45 minutes, while Tsubaki had just finished at 5 till.

Tsubaki shook her head, "No, it wasn't too bad, I just feel worn out from it ya know?"

Nodding, Maka answered, "Yeah, there was a lot more dates on it than I expected and the multiple choice section was tricky."

"Yes, I'm actually not too worried about my short essay. I'm just afraid that I might have tripped up on a few of the multiple choice questions," Tsubaki agreed while taking a seat on the bench next to her friend.

It was then that the professor must have made everyone stop working on their tests because next thing the girls knew, it was madness in the hallway as the majority of the students finally made their way out of the test, all of whom were chatting and ranting about the exam.

"Tsubaki!" an obnoxiously loud voice suddenly yelled above the whole crowd.

And suddenly she was on her feet with her cheeks stained pink again. Maka only had to think for a second before comprehending what was about to happen.

"Tsubaki!" he yelled again, just as deafening as before, but now right in Tsubaki's face. She didn't really seem to mind, although Maka was a bit irked by it.

"Hey Black Star," the shy girl said smiling. "How do you think you did on the test?"

"I Did Amazing! No One Could Have Done As Good Of A Job As Someone As Wonderful As Me!" he continued to yell directly in their faces. Maka was not impressed.

"Dude, just a second ago you were telling me how shitty you did, so don't go lying to your girlfriend now," another guy said walking up to them slowly but confidently.

Maka took in his appearance. At first glance, he looked like just a typical "too cool for you" guy with a black leather jacket as well as dark jeans, but something about his presence said the exact opposite. His hair was bleach white and Maka couldn't help but wonder if he had bleached it to make it so. However, it was his eyes that really caught her attention. He had deep red eyes, like none she had ever seen before, and while normally she would just chalk it up to being colored contacts or something, something made her second guess that presumption. Perhaps, it was the perpetually lazy but almost gleaming look in them that made her wary of conjecture. He may have been teasing Black Star, who she could only assume was his friend, but obviously he cared about the fellow classmate.

Meanwhile, Black Star was just blathering like an idiot trying to regain any lost ground with Tsubaki, who apparently had began to blush a deep red at already being called Black Star's girlfriend, and therefore couldn't manage to say a word. Thus, Maka took things into her own hands.

"So how did you do on the test then?" she asked finally standing up.

The mystery boy shrugged, "We'll see when I get my grade back."

For a moment, the two just stood opposite of one another, almost as if they were sizing one another up, like they had to decide if the other was really worth their time before they talked any longer. In the end, Maka's curiosity won out.

"I'm Maka Albarn, journalist major, 4.0 GPA, and taken. This is Tsubaki, business major, 3.76 GPA and currently dating this guy," she said gesturing towards Black Star, "you?"

If he was thrown off by her quick summary, he certainly didn't act like it. He only paused for a second before answering. "Soul Eater Evans, yes that is my real name, music major, unknown GPA at the moment, and single. While this guy," he gestured with his head at the blue haired guy next to him, "is Black Star, an engineering major, and you don't even want to know his GPA, and is _trying_ to date her."

"Hey I Am Dating Tsubaki! Isn't That Right Tsubaki!" Black Star immediately retaliated looking at Tsubaki, who simple nodded her head in agreement.

Soul simply rolled his eyes at his friend. Maka knew that something was up with the guy though by the way he looked at her immediately after and almost smirked. "Yeah, but you're_ just _dating right? I mean she could date someone else if she really wanted right?"

Maka hadn't realized that Black Star wasn't anywhere close to being riled up until now. Now the boy was shouting all sorts of things at Soul about how amazing his date was with Tsubaki and how wonderful they were together. Meanwhile, Soul seemed rather unperturbed by the whole situation. If anything, he seemed amused.

"If you guys are so perfect together then why are you only _dating_ the girl?" Soul asked as calmly as ever.

The face that Black Star made was priceless. It was as if gears had been going as fast as possible in his head, yet nothing had happened, until that moment when something clicked over. "YOU'RE RIGHT!" he suddenly whipped his head to look at Tsubaki. "Tsubaki, Will You Be My GIRLFRIEND?!"

The poor girl almost fainted as she turned a deep red. All she was able to do was simply nod at the boy. And that was how Tsubaki became Black Star's girlfriend. Maka was surprised of course, but since she had talked with Tsubaki about it last Thursday, she had known somewhere in the back of her mind that it was rather inevitable, especially if the date went well. If anything, she was rather impressed with Black Star for getting up the guts to ask out her friend so quickly. Tsubaki had been right about the confidence thing. Of course, Black Star immediately suggested that they go on a date right at that moment.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Tsubaki asked for the third time, "I know that we were supposed to go out for lunch today to celebrate finishing the test."

Maka shook her head. "It's no problem Tsubaki, go have fun with your new _boyfriend_." Maka teased as Tsubaki blushed at the new title. "I'll call Hiro and see if we can hang out, after all we didn't get the chance to this weekend."

"Well alright if you say so," the blushing girl said smiling lightly. Then she turned to Soul, "If it isn't too much trouble, would you stay with Maka until Hiro comes, I don't like the idea of her waiting all alone."

For the first time since she had met the guy, Soul seemed genuinely surprised by Tsubaki's request. Maka quickly interjected herself in, "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, you don't need to wor-"

"Of course I will," Soul suddenly interrupted as he stepped forward. Maka simply stared at him in surprise as he looked at her from the corner of his eye. "What kind of cool guy would you take me as if I didn't watch out for my fellow classmates." It wasn't a question, but a statement and Maka wouldn't have admitted it, but she was slightly impressed.

"Thanks!" Tsubaki quickly said before turning to head off with Black Star for their first date as an official couple.

Maka was careful to only speak again when Tusbaki was well out of hearing distance. "You know you don't really have to wait with me for Hiro to show up, right? I texted him and he said that he'll be here in about an hour."

"I know," Soul responded, "but I made a promise to your friend, and cool guys don't break promises."

She stared at him for a moment, and it was only a couple of seconds before he looked over at her and stared right back. Both were proud and refused to look away and instead only focused on each other's eyes.

"You're weird you know that," Maka said tilting her face slightly to the side.

"Says the girl who not only has her own GPA memorized but her best friend's as well," he snorted lightly.

"Hey," she protested frowning. "I just care a lot about my grades okay."

Soul held his hands up as if in surrender, "Sure sure, whatever makes you sleep at night… weirdo."

Pouting, Maka poked him in the stomach quickly before retreating back to the bench she had originally been sitting on. Once there, she pulled out a book and began to read. It was only about 55 minutes now till Hiro was supposed to show up, she mused. Soul, after wincing from her forceful poke, slowly joined her, laying his head back against the wall and closing his eyes while stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I know you promised Tsubaki, but honestly I can take care of myself," Maka said referring back to their original topic without looking up from her book.

He didn't even bother opening his eyes to answer. "I'm sure a girl like you can. God knows you just gave me a bruise with that finger of yours."

"It wasn't that bad."

"How would you know, you've never poked yourself," he drawled back.

Maka scoffed, "Of course I haven't, I just think you're a wuss."

He grinned at that, though he still didn't open his eyes. "A wuss huh?"

"Mm-huh," she hummed lightly. She could tell that she was baiting him, after all, his cool exterior practically screamed cool guy, and she knew that he wasn't going to take her insults simply lying down.

She also didn't know why she wanted to get a reaction out of the guy. All she knew was that she wanted to see him respond differently than his usual lazy drawl.

"Bet I could prove you wrong about that," he answered back cheekily.

Maka forced her face to remain as impassive as possible, determined to get some sort of reaction. "What could you possibly do about it weakling?" she asked trying to take her insults a step further and see how this boy would respond.

She didn't expect a demonstration, because next thing she knew he had grabbed her book, slammed it shut on the bench next to her, grabbed her wrists and pined them back to the wall.

"What the hell!" she exclaimed clearly surprised by Soul's actions.

"I am _not_ weak," he said staring her in the eyes. She couldn't speak. His eyes were so intense staring into hers. Suddenly, she was rather nervous and knew that she had crossed a line with the boy. She should have known better than to goad a complete stranger. After all, she didn't really know what he was capable of, especially now that he was in control of the situation, at least for the moment.

Forcing herself to calm down from her initial surprise, Maka felt her eyes bore right back into Soul's. For a moment his flickered in response, and she knew that she had shocked him by calming down so quickly. "Neither am I," she responded back before expertly bringing up her leg directly between his legs strongly.

His reaction was instant as he let go of her wrists and quickly fell to the ground in a heap grabbing his crotch. "Mother FUCKER!"

Maka simply sighed. She hadn't wanted to do it, but he really had left her no choice. "You okay?" she asked picking up her book and trying to find her spot, mostly to keep her eyes off the embarrassment in front of herself.

"Damn you bitch," he practically snarled out, "you really suck you know that."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't like being taken advantage of."

He slowly made his way back onto the bench next to her, throwing his head back with deep breaths, obviously trying to breathe through the pain. "I wasn't going to take advantage of you. I was just trying to make a point."

Maka didn't even look up from her page, "And how was I supposed to know that?"

Soul chuckled at that eyes still closed as he leaned his head back. "You're quite the girl you know that?"

She tried to suppress a grin but failed, "Even if I'm weird."

"Yeah," he laughed, "Especially because you're weird."

For a while they sat in peace, Soul with his head against the wall seemingly asleep though he was probably just trying to relax and work through his bruised manhood, while Maka pretended to read her book because she, despite the boy's silence next to her, simply could not concentrate. Honestly she was surprised by Soul's actions. Not so much the attacking her thing, looking back she already realized that she was in the wrong, but now what he was doing? After all, if someone had ever hit her, she would have left them in a heartbeat. So why on earth was he still here, seemingly not too mad at her?

"Sorry" she said without thought, though she didn't regret it. Soul peeked open an eye and stared at her without shifting an inch. "I shouldn't have challenged you like that, I should have known better."

He didn't respond, only looking up and down her body as if trying to analyze and understand her. She sighed, "And I'm also sorry for kicking you in the nuts," he winced, "I shouldn't have done that."

"Naw, it was self-defense, and honestly it was warranted considering how I practically attacked you," he shrugged.

"You were just trying to prove a point," she defended him looking up from her book giving up pretending to read.

He simply smirked back at her, "And I think I proved it rather well. Still think I'm a wuss?"

She glared at him, figured that he would get a big head. "No."

"Good," he responded sitting back again and letting his head fall against the wall behind him. "Cause I wouldn't want you underestimating my ability to protect you, considering Tsubaki asked me so nicely to babysit."

Maka poked him again in the stomach. This time he didn't respond, but he did smile as he closed his eyes once again. "If anything it proved I don't need someone to babysit me."

Soul laughed at that. "Damn straight you don't." She allowed a giggle to escape her lips as she looked back down at her book expecting their conversation to be over. "But if you ever do, feel free to call me up."

She felt a small blush paint her cheeks as she continued to stare intently down at her book. Perhaps that was the moment that they became friends. It was anything but the typical beginning, but she liked it. She liked it a lot.

After that Maka read and Soul took a nap, obviously not too concerned for Maka's safety, if he even had been to begin with. Two hours later when Hiro still hadn't shown up or texted his girlfriend, she woke Soul up with a shake and told him she had to go to work. Noticing her disappointed face, Soul was smart enough to refrain from asking about her boyfriend. Instead he offered to walk her to her job.

The local coffee shop where she worked wasn't too far, therefore she accepted his offer. The walk was mostly done in silence, but the kind that two old friends would share. Despite being stood up by Hiro, Maka was in a surprisingly good mood as she worked. She was elated when she left work and pulled out her cellphone to see that she had a new text message that read: _Tsubaki gave me your number. Feel free to call on me anytime you need a babysitter- Soul_.

She got an excuse from Hiro the next day about how his phone had died and he had gotten stuck in traffic while coming to pick her up. She accepted that things happen, but this time she gave him a stern glare and a small lecture. She wouldn't have been half as mad if he hadn't messed up like this just a week ago. It was frustrating.

Worse yet, Hiro continued to stand her up. Well not technically, but for the next two months whenever she texted him he would either forget to text her back or show up ten minutes to two hours late for their agreed meeting time. Maka tried to be patient knowing that Hiro had a lot on his plate with school and a job. But so did she, and she always managed to be at their agreed meeting spot on time as well as just be there for him in general. Still he was always such the gentleman on all their dates and obviously made such an effort to impress her, it was hard to stay mad at him when he acted as such. Then again, the moment they were away from each other, it felt like everything fell apart. She supposed she was just being overdramatic though.

Meanwhile, Maka and Soul became much much closer. With Black Star and Tsubaki now official, the two boys had taken to sitting with the girls during class. Maka was finally getting used to Black Star's constant energy and watching him interact with Tsubaki seemed almost too adorable. They were such opposites, yet they complimented each other so well.

She was glad that she had Soul by her side during and after class as well though, and she was sure that he felt the same. Tsubaki and Black Star weren't exactly very private, or rather Black Star had no impulse control and tended to make out and flirt constantly with his girlfriend, after class especially. Maka was thrilled for her best friend to have found someone who made her weak in the knees and swept her off her feet, but sometimes, it got to be a little much. Therefore, Soul and Maka couldn't help but spend a lot more time together.

"They really need to learn how to get a room," Maka commented dryly as she sat down next to Soul. Tsubaki's greeting for Black Star was a bit more energetic.

Soul merely glanced up at Maka not even bothering to acknowledge his supposed best friend and his girlfriend, not that they had even bothered greeting him. He knew exactly who Maka was talking about. "How do you know they haven't already?" he flashed her a toothy grin.

Maka scrunched her nose in response, "Thanks for that lovely image… pervert."

He simply chuckled. They didn't have another chance to talk until after class, as just then their professor walked in and immediately began to lecture. Strangely, she realized that her and Soul had made a system for class ever since they had started sitting next to one another.

Soul was the type of person to fall asleep in class, and Maka had a zero tolerance policy for that type of behavior. At first, she would constantly nudge him to wake him up the entire period. However, all this did was to make Soul grumpy and Maka annoyed. Soul eventually realized that if he took notes for just a moment whenever Maka woke him up, she didn't nudge him as often, and Maka realized that no matter how much she elbowed him during class, he was only going to wake up for about five minutes each time. Therefore, whenever the teacher said something particularly important she would bump him, and he would jot down a quick note before going back to his nap. It was a strange system, but oddly both were rather satisfied with it.

"What do you do in your other classes that I'm not there to wake you up for?" Maka once asked him after class while they waited in the hallway for Hiro to show up for Maka and his date. Amazingly, Soul had yet to even meet this notorious boyfriend of Maka's.

He shrugged, "Most of my classes are music and I couldn't fall asleep in those even if I wanted."

"What's it like being able to play an instrument?" she'd ask.

"What's it like being able to study nonstop for hours on end?" he countered quickly.

She slapped his arm lightly making a face. "Come on, it must be pretty cool right?"

"I guess," he answered. He obviously wasn't going to say anything else about it, so Maka made a face and opened back up her book to continue reading. She didn't know that he saw her obvious disappointment. Running his hands through his hair in slight frustration, he spoke once again. "It's just like walking or running for me." She looked back up curiously, "I've been playing the piano for so long it's just like doing the dishes. It's simply a part of my life."

She frowned at that surprisingly. "That doesn't sound very special."

"It isn't for me," he admitted chuckling.

"Then why are you majoring in music?"

Soul simply stared back at Maka blankly. He didn't get a chance to say anything though, cause that was the moment that Hiro decided to show up.

"Am I interrupting something?" Hiro asked obviously glowering at Soul, who immediately realized both himself and Maka were leaning rather close to one another. He quickly drew back, but noted that Maka merely looked up at her boyfriend.

That was the first time that Hiro and Soul met. Maka expected Soul to dislike Hiro, after all, he had heard more about how the guy had stood up or show up late for his and Maka's dates than anyone else. She did not expect Hiro's blatant antagonism toward Soul, especially after he had done nothing wrong. Even more surprising was Soul's casual attitude toward Hiro.

"Hiro!" Maka squeaked, her face lighting up in a grin before she quickly stood up and flung her arms around his neck in an embrace. Hiro continued to glare at Soul as he slowly made his way to his feet.

Letting go of her boyfriend, Maka realized that introductions were in order. "Hiro this is Soul my friend from history class, and Soul this is –"

"Hiro," Soul cut him off. "I've heard a lot about you." He didn't say it threateningly or rudely, in fact he was rather monotone.

"What's that supposed to mean," Hiro quickly retorted sharply.

"Nothing, just that Maka likes to talk about you," Soul easily replied as he continued to stare Hiro in the eyes calmly.

"Hiro, be nice," Maka hissed under her breath.

Hiro continued to glare, but he didn't say another bad word to Soul who seemed unfazed by the guy. Maka quickly decided that she didn't want to stick around any longer with the growing tension between the two boys, at least from Hiro's perspective. "I'll see you on Monday okay Soul?" she quickly said pulling Hiro by his arm to start backing up towards the door to the building.

"Sure thing Maka," Soul said simply blinking lazily as she disappeared out the door with her boyfriend in tow.

Waiting for a moment to make sure the two of them weren't coming back, Soul finally let out a shaky breath. He ran his hands through his hair finally allowing his head to fall into his hands while his elbows rested on his knees slouched over completely.

He felt like such an idiot. He was such an idiot. From the first day of school, something about Maka had caught his attention. He remembered the first time he saw her looking around the room in history before class had even started. She wasn't exactly a bombshell to look at, but something about her drew him to her. Perhaps it was the pleasant smile that rested on her lips as she whipped her hair all about, obviously looking for someone. Or it might have been the blondish brown pigtails, it was such a childish look and yet somehow he couldn't find it in himself to care. If anything it made him more interested in her, because suddenly he wanted to know why she wore her hair that way. Then again, it was probably her eyes. He had always liked the color green, and her's were such a vivid shade that it was no wonder that he couldn't help but wish for her to sit close to him. Disappointingly, she had sat with her friend up in the front of the class while he and his friend had chosen seats on the back row.

Of course, now things were a lot better. He got to sit next to her during history class and even though he couldn't really nap during the period anymore, he couldn't care less. Ever since BlackStar and Tsubaki had made it official, he'd had the chance to really get to know Maka. He thanked goodness that their two friends had actually gotten together, although he knew that he might have had something to do with it.

But now, what the hell was he doing!

She was taken, and he had seen just now first handedly just how taken with the boy she was. He was pleased to see that Hiro, this boyfriend that she had spoken so much about, wasn't like a God or anything. But he might as well have been with the way that she had greeted him. He felt silly hoping that she would light up like that when she saw him, but he knew it was just wishful thinking.

It was silly for him to feel so attached to a girl that was already taken. No, he would mind his business and let things take their course… just like he always did.

Maka had her first real fight with Hiro that day. After the stunt he had pulled with Soul, she wasn't happy in the least, and even more so, she was disappointed.

"Don't you trust me!?" she hissed walking down the street refusing to touch her boyfriend or let him touch her.

"I just don't like you having other guy friends, okay?"

Maka was furious. "So it's okay for you to hang out with other girls, but I can't hang out with guys?"

Hiro beamed at her, "Exactly!"

It was official, Maka decided, her boyfriend was a dumbass. She stormed away.

"Wait up Maka! Where are you going?" he shouted after her.

She quickly turned on her heels and stared Hiro directly in the eye with such anger that she was pleased to see him flinch. "If you don't know what you said wrong, then obviously we have issues." Hiro simply stood there spluttering for words and yet nothing came out. Maka couldn't help but think that Soul would have had some sort of speedy retort back. She quickly shook out that thought though as she interrupted her indecipherable boyfriend's words. "I'm going to work and as we already agreed, you're to pick me up at 7 p.m. understand?" she snapped.

He merely nodded obviously dumbfounded and once again Maka found herself slightly disappointed with her boyfriend's lack of quick wit.

When he picked her up that night Maka was still steamed from earlier. However, when he opened the car door for her and asked her how work was and small details about her life that proved just how much he had been actually listening to her; she couldn't find it in herself to continue acting mad at the boy. She was rather pissed at him of course, but knew it would be easier to act like she wasn't and move on. He left her with a small chaste kiss on the front doorstep to her apartment that night. They had even made plans for a date, dinner and a movie, for the next day.

Maka knew she should have been pleased, but as she walked into her apartment and slowly leaned back against her door, she couldn't help but think that holding back her anger from Hiro had been a mistake. After all, if they were serious, then he should be able to handle all of her which included her rather short temper from time to time. So why couldn't she just have been completely herself with him? She quickly got a headache and finally went to bed more upset than she knew she should be. And strangely, she couldn't stop thinking about Soul, and the slightly hurt look that had crossed his eyes when she looked back at him while still dragging Hiro away earlier that day.

* * *

So I actually think this is my least favorite chapter, but I hope you all enjoyed it all the same. If you are reading any of my other fics, sorry for being ridiculously slow. I hope I can get around to them soon enough, but unfortunately I've got a lot going on right now. Anyway, as always, keep writing- FFG


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Soul Eater. Also, the characters may be a tad OOC. (I meant to say that in the first chapter) AU as well. Hope you all enjoy the chapter. The entire fic is written but I'm working on editing it. I will be updating next Thursday.

Chapter 2 WYRW

For a while things got a whole lot better for Maka, and subsequently a lot worse for Soul.

Ever since the whole Soul Hiro meeting, Hiro had become the boy that she had fallen for that summer, always taking her on dates and just being there for her. She didn't know what had caused this change but Maka was extremely pleased with it. It was so good to be doted on again as well as simply appreciated by her boyfriend. However, there was one downside to this situation. She saw Soul less than ever before.

It wasn't as if they hung out a lot outside of class, besides him tending to wait with her for Hiro to show up for their dates. But all the same, Maka couldn't help but regret the fact that over the last month Soul and her hadn't had a really good chance to just sit and generally talk. She found herself really missing it too. Something about Soul just made her feel completely comfortable and she liked that. Maybe it was because he called her weird so she knew she didn't need to try and impress the guy, it was too late for that. Or perhaps it was because their banter was always so much fun and stimulating. He somehow managed to make her feel calm. Being with him felt like she was breathing normally again after holding her breath for hours.

However, she felt like he was pulling away from her. Soul had seemed… off, to put it lightly, for the last few weeks. He still grinned at her, but it wasn't the same as before. Something was wrong with him, but she didn't know how to ask him about it. Frankly, every time she was about to bring up the subject, he would get this look in his eyes that told her not to ask, that it wasn't any of her business. She would have never admitted it, but it hurt more than he knew.

Soul was sad for some reason, and for whatever reason, he was blocking her out as if to keep her from knowing why. Maka didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.

The only good thing about seeing Soul less, that Maka could think of, was Hiro wasn't nearly as pissed. Not only had he become a complete gentleman for the last few weeks, but he had been trying to be a bit more understanding of Soul and Maka's relationship… and failing. The moment that Maka would mention Soul, Hiro would wince slightly, or god forbid Hiro saw the guy, he immediately started to glare at him. Soul seemed unperturbed by these actions, but Maka was more than a little annoyed with it.

She had tried discussing it with Hiro, but frankly he shut her down every time she brought it up. This merely served to upset Maka more than piss her off. She found herself steaming and thinking that if Hiro couldn't handle being friends with or even just being civil to her friends, than he shouldn't be her boyfriend. She'd always feel guilt immediately afterwards though. After all, the boy had showed her time and time again just how much she meant to him and of all the faults that he could've had, this wasn't that bad… right?

Simply put, Maka was confused and she didn't like it. The way things had been going, she felt like she should have been happier than ever, and instead she found herself getting angrier and angrier with the littlest things the Hiro did.

Suddenly him opening the door for her made her feel weak as if he thought she couldn't do it for herself. The way he would do anything she asked without argument perturbed her. She didn't feel like he spoke up about any of his desires except for her to drop all of her guy friends and only spend time with him. Then he was keeping her so busy with dates that she had hardly found any time with Tsubaki to hang out like they usually did. And when she tried to tell him she already had plans with her best friend, he'd smile that blasted smile and talk sweetly to her until she had called her friend and canceled giving one excuse or another. Everything with him just felt wrong, and she didn't know what to do about it. He had also taken to leaving her apartment really late at night and then returning the next morning before she had class. While she had found it sweet and surprising the first time, it was now getting on her nerves because not a free moment went by for her that he wasn't there trying to engage her in some sort of conversation, and frankly she just wanted some privacy. She wouldn't have been surprised if he even started to try and spend the night at her place, something she was far from ready for.

Worst of all, she didn't know who to talk about it with. She had always gone to Tsubaki for help, but between Hiro monopolizing all of her time and the fact that Tsubaki was in this mind blowing new relationship, she wasn't being able to talk to her best friend at all. It was getting to the point that she started going to school hours early with the excuse of studying, which wasn't a complete lie, just to get away from Hiro for a few hours in the morning.

"You look like shit."

Maka immediately jumped at the voice, not expecting anyone to talk to her as she hid out in the far corner of the basement of the school's library. She looked up, "Soul." A small smile made its way to her lips. "What brings you down here?"

He raised an eyebrow at her before sitting down across from her at her table. "Okay spill, something's obviously up because I just insulted you and all you did was ask a polite question in reply. Where's my short tempered tiny friend?"

She opened her mouth as if to speak, but quickly closed it not knowing what to say. She looked back down at the paper she was working on. "I'm not that short," she whispered half-heartedly under her breath.

"That's a better response but not quite up to the standards that I'm used to. Maybe if you tried it with a little force next time."

Maka knew that Soul was just being cheeky, but frankly she couldn't handle it at the moment. After staying up late the night before trying to catch up on her school work, she was exhausted and really didn't have time to humor Soul. She quickly began to gather her things shoving everything into her bag haphazardly while refusing to look up. She knew that she would break if she did. "If you actually want a proper conversation with someone then perhaps you are looking at the wrong person okay!" she snapped, starting to walk away.

"Hey hey hey," Soul quickly ran to catch up with her as she stormed past him.

She whipped her head up in response and he was surprised to see tears forming in her eyes. "What!" she snapped, oblivious to how Soul had just frozen wide eyed staring at her.

Maka gestured for Soul to hurry up and say whatever it was that he had been so adamant about saying, but she just watched as he opened his mouth and nothing came out. If she hadn't been so pissed, she might have actually been amused. Still, she couldn't help but soften seeing the confusion in Soul's eyes as he struggled to find the right words to say to her. However, she didn't have time to simply stand here and do nothing all day. Knowing that her cheeks were probably puffy now and her eyes red from the tears that were still threatening to continue to flow, she decided to take her leave.

Sighing to herself, Maka said, "Look I'll talk to you later okay?" and started to turn away from Soul.

That's when he finally managed to spit out something. "You're such an idiot."

She froze and she could feel her throat clench painfully tight as she tried not to let anymore tears form. Why couldn't she move?! She just wanted to get out of there, now that Soul was apparently mad at her for some unknown reason. Her mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour and she couldn't seem to slow it down. She couldn't manage to view what was going on objectively, and that Soul wasn't mad at her at all. Maka couldn't help but rush to conclusions, because quite frankly, she was exhausted.

Just as she opened her mouth in hopes of sarcastically telling Soul that he really knew how to charm a lady with such lovely compliments, she felt her wrist being grabbed, and the next instant she was pulled against a hard chest as two arms wrapped lightly around her.

Of all the things Soul could have done, Maka had most certainly not expected a hug, and suddenly it was as if the floodgates had opened and unadulterated tears streamed down her face as she buried her nose in Soul's shirt and clasped on to him with her hands as if her very life depended on it.

She cried because she was so tired and staying awake in class was becoming a battle. She cried because she thought that she was on her way to falling in love with Hiro, and now she couldn't wait to get away from him. She cried because she hadn't had a real conversation with Tsubaki, her best friend, in over a week, and quite frankly she felt as if she had been replaced by the girl's new boyfriend. She cried because she had just been so terrible to Soul and while he did call her an idiot, he was now having to suffer through her tears. Hell, she cried because of her parents' divorce from years ago. She cried because she simply couldn't take it anymore. Everything was too much and now all she wanted to do was cry it all out.

Maka could hear herself sobbing about everything to Soul as she continued to bury her face in his chest, but even she couldn't make out what she was saying. She knew she was babbling, but frankly she couldn't stop even if she had wanted to. Thankfully, Soul didn't seem to mind.

Soul simply waited for Maka to essentially pour her soul out to him. He mused that he should have suspected that something was wrong with the girl a hell of a lot sooner. In fact, he was rather annoyed with himself for having not noticed. Sure, he had been avoiding seeing Maka for any extraneous amount of time, but could you really blame him for it. After all, the only thing he could think of when he was around her was that she was a taken girl and he had no right to want her for himself.

But now she was hurting, and he couldn't help but think that he might have been able to help had he been paying a bit more attention to her.

All he could do now was be there for her as she sobbed harshly on his chest. Soul didn't know how long they were standing there, but it became pretty clear to him very quickly that Maka was no longer actually supporting her own weight. He had given up fairly quickly making out what she was ranting to him about, knowing that she would explain better and more calmly when she simply got it all out, but feeling her body practically go limp in his arms, Soul knew that he wasn't going to get any explanation any time soon. It was clear that she was severely exhausted, and more than anything else, she simply needed sleep.

Therefore, the moment he felt her knees buckle unable to hold her own weight anymore, he quickly scooped her up into his arms and swiftly carried her over to one of the few couches in the library basement. She didn't even seem to notice as he placed her sitting between his legs still pressed against him.

Thankfully, for Maka's sake, she went still pretty quickly after that, and he could only assume that crying had simply been the last straw before the poor girl had simply passed out. At first, Soul couldn't help but stare at her, especially when she nuzzled him lightly with her head in her sleep. But as he became more and more comfortable with the position, he realized he had a few things to do.

Moving as little as he possibly could, Soul managed to dig his cell phone out of his pocket without waking the girl in his lap and he quickly dialed a number.

"Hey Tsubaki, I'm gonna need a favor."

* * *

Warm. That was Maka's first thought as she slowly drifted into consciousness. However, upon realizing she was most definitely not in her bed, and that this was not some kind of dream, Maka quickly sat up with a start banging her head into something rather sharp.

"Damn it!" she hissed under her breath as she clutched the top of her head in pain.

"Holy shit you have a hard head," she hear someone sharply reply, and her eyes popped open in surprise. Emerald met crimson and for a moment neither of them broke eye contact not even realizing that Soul's hand was still touching his chin while Maka's rested on her head.

She blushed. Soul noticed but didn't say a word as he was pleasantly surprised but knew it was inappropriate.

Finally Maka, unable to take the tension between her and Soul, looked down and away. Although that was when she became acutely aware of the fact that she was in Soul's lap. She quickly scrambled to get off of him and almost managed to wipe out when her legs got tangled with his own. Thankfully, Soul had quick reflexes and managed to steady her in time before helping her situate herself next to him on the couch.

He might have been upset with how quickly she had wanted to remove herself from him, if it hadn't been for the permanent blush staining her cheeks as she tried to calm back down. He couldn't help but think she was adorable. And then he wanted to kick himself in the shins as he remembered not only that she was very much taken, but that he was being really sappy, even if it was just in his head.

"So…" she began, taking a huge breath, "What exactly happened… uh… here?" She refused to look up at him, instead she chose to stare at her hands in her lap.

"I teased, you got upset, tried to walk away, I stopped you, you cried, and then you passed out," Soul quickly recounted wishing he could touch her again but knowing better than to…yet.

Maka took a deep breath closing her eyes trying to calm herself back down as she remembered her complete breakdown in front of Soul of all people. Though she didn't know why she felt like it was so much worse having done so in front of him. Maybe it was just because he was a boy. Yes, she was sure that was why.

"Sorry," was the first thing she said after a couple of minutes.

He didn't answer right away, but when he did she was surprised. "What the hell are you apologizing for?" It came out more sharply than he had meant it to, but frankly he was a little pissed that she could possibly be taking blame for whatever just caused her to break down.

Maka looked up at Soul slowly. "I shouldn't have snapped at you when you first tried to talk to me down here."

"Forget about it," he quickly interrupted before she could say another word. "I was acting like a douche and obviously pushed you over the edge. If anyone should be apologizing it's me." Neither spoke for a moment. Maka didn't know what to make of Soul's half-ass apology and opted to simply stare at her hands once again, and Soul was hesitant to say more. However, anything was better than the current awkward silence.

"So what made you get to the edge in the first place," Soul quickly muttered. Maka glanced over once again only to see Soul deliberately looking anywhere except for at her. It was almost cute. And as soon as the thought came, it left.

"I thought that I already told you," Maka said, hoping that Soul might drop the subject.

He chuckled. "If you mean you spluttered incomprehensible and scattered thoughts into my shirt, then yes, you already told me."

She tried to keep a grin from spreading on her face, but Soul caught her when she glanced up at him. When he raised an eyebrow, she couldn't resist any longer. A small giggle escaped her lips. Soul couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as a small smile settled on his face as well.

"So you gonna tell me what happened now?" he asked gently placing a hand on top of Maka's which was resting in her lap.

Maka took his hand in hers, happy for the comforting gesture, and then she told him everything.

She told him about Hiro being overbearing. She told him how she was super stressed with all of her classes. She told him about her worries that Hiro might be ready to sleep with her. She told him how she hasn't been able to talk to Tsubaki in weeks. She told him how she was a tad jealous of BlackStar. She told him how she's missed talking to him after class. She told him how tired she was. She told him how her parents got divorced when she was a kid, and she's never really been able to get over it.

She told him everything.

And he listened to it all, making comments here and there, but for the most part just letting her pour out her soul about anything and everything that was on her chest at the moment. Tears came to her eyes once again, but he simply wiped them away each and every time and she felt herself pushing to keep talking.

Maka was almost disappointed when she hit the point that she had nothing else left to say.

"So what do you think?" she asked suddenly feeling her stomach tighten up with nerves.

Soul looked her directly in the eyes as he responded. "I think you need to take care of yourself before you worry about anything else."

"But Soul!"

He held up a hand to stop her. "You told me everything that's been going on, and now I want you to listen to me without interruption okay?"

Maka nodded, having noted that Soul wasn't being mean; he just obviously had some things to say about her situation.

"I'm not trying to lecture you like a parent, but I'm beginning to think that you worry so much about your grades, relationship, and making sure you don't offend anyone, that you forget about making sure that you're okay."

Maka nodded, unsure if she really believed him but knowing he was trying to help. He saw the uncertainty in her eyes. "Here's a question, when's the last time you had a full meal that wasn't a date with Hiro."

Thinking back slowly, her eyes began to widen slowly. "How long?" he repeated.

She looked back down into her lap before answering. "About a week…" Soul was silent. "Or two."

"Damn it Maka!"

His voice made her jump in surprise and she couldn't help but notice several people in the room looking over at the two of them. She had to get him to sit back down as he had stood up violently and was now proceeding to pace back and forth. "Soul calm dow-"

"No Maka," he whipped his head to stare directly into her eyes as he froze directly in front of her. He stared at her frozen when he saw that she was wide-eyed as if in fear of him, and Soul immediately felt guilty. He ran his hand down his face, trying to make his features relax. The last thing he wanted to do was to frighten Maka.

"Look, we're going to get lunch right now and I'm going to pay for it okay?" and with that he quickly scooped up Maka's bag along with his own and began to walk away.

Maka caught up fairly quickly. "Okay," she answered so quietly that he wasn't even sure that he heard her.

They silently made their way up the stairs and out of the library before just what they were doing hit Maka. "Wait, we're going to lunch!?"

"Yeah."

"What time is it Soul?! I have class, and I had class this morning, and oh my gosh how could I have missed that. Where am I gonna get notes for class and holy shit I have to go to my next class right no-"

She went silent the moment that Soul grabbed both of her shoulders. "Calm down Maka."

Together they took a deep breath, but Soul could still feel how tense Maka's shoulders were under his hands. He hoped it was just the stress of missing class and not because he was touching her again.

"I called Tsubaki while you were asleep and she's gonna make sure to take extra good notes in class today for you, and together the three of us will find someone to borrow notes from for your other classes, okay?"

Everything in Maka's head was telling her to grab her bag and run; that she had to go to class no matter what anyone else said. Maka had her routine, and part of that included always going to class. To skip, and for no apparent reason, it was wrong and frankly a terrible idea.

"You're not skipping for no reason Maka," Soul suddenly interjected himself into her thoughts.

"How did you know what I was-"

"Maka," he interrupted, "It was written all over you face. Plus, you're pretty predictable, at least when it comes to school."

"But I am skipping for no reason."

Soul sighed. "No you aren't. You're skipping because frankly if you push yourself any harder you're just going to seriously hurt yourself or get sick or something." He squeezed her shoulders lightly, trying to portray some sense of comfort in his actions. "Look, we're just going to get lunch and some food in your system while I tell you what I think of… well everything you told me."

Maka would not have been convinced, except for the way Soul looked at her. He was smiling slightly, but much more prominent to her was the sense of nervousness yet eagerness behind his actions. She could admit to herself that she needed a day off easily, but more so than that, she really did want to hear what Soul had to say about it all. She needed a second opinion, and frankly after he listened so intently to everything she had to say, she wanted to specifically hear his opinion.

So she gave in. "Okay."

Not ten minutes later Maka and Soul were sitting at a corner table in the food court eating two burgers and fries, courtesy of Soul. Maka hadn't even realized how hungry she was until the moment he set down the food in front of her and its fumes engulfed her nose making her mouth salivate in anticipation. She quickly gulped down the food not even bothering to really taste it, just enjoy the sustenance it brought her.

"Geez, maybe you want to slow down a little. You eat like a guy," Soul commented dryly.

Maka swallowed a particularly large bite. "Sorry, I didn't realize how hungry I even was," she said grinning.

Soul felt his features soften. He realized that the girl in front of him really needed someone to take care of her. And he was finding that he enjoyed the rather ridiculous job, which he was beginning to feel rather cheesy for.

"So what exactly are these thoughts that you wanted to share with me," Maka asked finishing her food and proceeding to steal a couple of Soul's fries.

Shoving his fries over to the girl, Soul sighed. "First you have to promise not to say anything until I explain completely."

She was hesitant, but nodded all the same, gesturing for him to continue. "You need to talk to Hiro," she nodded in response agreeing completely.

"Maka, I don't just mean talk to him and work things out, you need to tell him everything, and I mean everything that you just told me."

Her eyes went wide. "But if I did that I might-"

"No talking!" Soul quickly cut her off, but he went ahead and answered her fears anyway. "Yes, you might hurt his feelings and his pride, but honestly he's a big boy and he should be able to handle it." Soul paused, "And if he can't, then frankly he shouldn't be in an adult relationship."

For a moment the two sat in silence, Maka knowing better than to speak, and Soul trying to figure out exactly what to say next. "I don't want you to misinterpret me Maka okay? I'm not saying to simply break up with the guy. I'm saying that the two of you need to communicate better and maybe even take a step back in your relationship."

Blank faced, Maka simply nodded along with Soul's words. He took it as a sign to continue on. "You also need to talk to Hiro about the sex thing."

Maka's eyes immediately widened as a heavy blush stained her cheeks. "But-"

"No buts Maka," Soul took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. Talking about sex with Maka had definitely not been on his to do list for the day, or every honestly. "If you are going to be in a long term relationship with someone, then issues like sex are going to come up."

"Can we please not talk about this," Maka begged whipping her head around obviously afraid that someone might have overheard them.

Soul chuckled at her apparent embarrassment. He'd have to remember that Maka really couldn't handle talking about sex next time he wanted her to blush. However, he did have one thing more to say on the subject that was a bit more serious. He quickly shifted into a stern look as he proceeded, "Yeah, but one last thing. Don't let him pressure you into doing anything that you don't want to do okay Maka? Cool guys don't force the girl to do anything she doesn't want to do."

Feeling how serious the conversation had suddenly become, Maka nerviously tried to lighten the mood. "Cool guys like you," she responded back grinning at Soul.

He didn't smile and simply answered, "Yeah."

The smile slowly faded from Maka's face as she processed Soul's words. Eyes intensely locked together, Maka could practically feel how serious Soul was about what he just told her. Suddenly she felt her heart speed up a notch. Just the thought of doing something so intimate… with Soul. She felt her cheeks heat up even more than they already were. She was thankful that Soul's expression didn't seem to change despite her obvious blush.

One thing was for certain. If she hadn't already trusted Soul, she certainly would now.

True, she was never one to really trust something that someone said seeing as her father was such a liar and cheat to her and her Mama, but looking into Soul's unwavering eyes, she knew he was telling the truth. And honestly, she couldn't even fathom Soul trying to pressure anyone into sex. While he didn't seem like the pushover type that did anything his girlfriend or date might want him to, he certainly was a gentleman, something that Maka was aware of being rather rare.

Suddenly, the two of them realized just how long they had been staring intensely at one another rather seriously. Both quickly sat up, unaware when they had even leaned forward onto the table between them, and proceeded to look anywhere except for at one another.

"So, umm, you should probably talk to Tsubaki too," Soul started, desperate for a topic change.

Maka quickly followed suit latching on to anything that wasn't sex related. "Yeah, I think I'll call her tonight and fill her in on everything that's been going on lately."

"Sounds good to me," Soul nodded. "But make sure you tell her everything, even the stuff about Black Star."

Maka shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "I will, but I'm worried that she'll be sad."

Soul gave her a half smile, "I wouldn't be surprised if she is, but at the same time I know her well enough to know that she'd probably be more upset if you kept something like that from her for very long."

She nodded, "Yeah, she'd blame it on herself honestly, which is far from the truth."

"Yeah we both know it's Black Star that's the blame," Soul added jokingly.

Maka giggled, "Ehh, who knew someone so loud would also be so demanding."

Soul leaned back in his chair, "Actually, this is the first time I've seen Black Star like this, and we were best friends all through high school."

"Me too," Maka added. Soul shot her a curious look. She waved her hand as if dismissing his thoughts, "I mean with Tsubaki. She's never been this into a guy before."

He smirked at that. "That's good to know. Makes me feel better that my best friend isn't falling head over heels for someone who's just casually dating."

"Yeah," Maka agreed.

For a moment the two of them just sat in comfortable silence, simply happy to know that their friends were doing so well and obviously happy with one another. It was nice, talking with Soul, Maka quietly decided. He made her feel… at ease with herself.

"Hey Maka?"

Maka hummed in response looking up at Soul.

He looked nervous. "I know you've got a lot of shit on your plate right now and like you're worried about your past, Hiro, classes, and friends and stuff, but I'm not really worried about all those things for you."

Maka was surprised by Soul's quiet admission. She didn't know what to say in response, so she said the only thing that came to mind. "Why?"

"Because from the day that I met you, you made it clear that you were not a force to be trifled with."

She couldn't help but smirk at that.

"But you know what?"

"What?"

"Who's gonna save Superman?"

Maka stared at Soul in obvious confusion over his words. "What do you mean?" She asked slowly.

"I mean you spend so much of your time worrying about things and other people, that sometimes I worry that you don't ever worry about the most important thing."

"What's that?" Maka quickly asked, baffled over what else she could possibly worry about besides what Soul had just listed for her.

"Yourself," he answered smoothly.

Maka didn't know how to answer to that, probably because she realized Soul was right. She did tend to forget about herself in the grand scheme of her life.

"Can I ask you something?" Soul didn't even wait for a response before pushing on. "When was the last time that you did something just for yourself?"

Immediately Maka began to rack her brain for anything she did specifically for herself. Well there was studying.

"And you can't say studying because that's for class no matter how much a nerd like you enjoys it."

Damn, Maka cursed internally. But that's when she realized she could actually win this conversation… not that her and Soul were competing or anything. "Right now," she said plainly. "This lunch with you right now is something that is fun and just for me and no other reason."

"Doesn't count," Soul murmured gruffly.

Maka's smile quickly turned into a frown as she stuck out her lip a little. "Why not?" she wined childishly.

"Because I made you do this," he answered back simply.

"Well then maybe that's your job."

"Huh?"

Maka blushed having realized just where she was going with this conversation. "You asked who's gonna save Superman," she looked down into her lap clearly embarrassed, "and you made me do something for myself, so maybe it's your job to save Superman from himself… or herself… or me. Whatever!" Maka ended louder than she meant to, and immediately looked around and noticed that quite a few pairs of eyes had drifted over to where her and Soul were sitting. She idly wondered if the blush on her cheeks was now going to be a permanent part of her expression.

For a moment, Soul just sat there staring at her, and then he laughed. He laughed loud and hard as he processed Maka's words. Maka frowned as she continued to feel her cheeks heat up. "Maka, you are such an idiot."

She made a face in response glaring at her supposed friend rather annoyed. "Fine then, I have better things to do than sit around here and have you laugh at me all day," she snapped not exactly mad, but certainly not happy with Soul's reaction.

Standing up, Maka began to make her way out of the university's cafeteria, only to be stopped mere seconds later when something grabbed her wrist. She didn't even have time to squeal before she was pulled against someone's chest smoothly for the second time that day. The scent of leather immediately warned her exactly who it was. "Soul?"

Soul simply held Maka even tighter in his embrace. He knew that she wasn't really annoyed with him, probably just frustrated, and he hadn't really helped by laughing at her. "Maka, just promise me that you'll try to take a little better care of yourself."

Maka wasn't able to control herself as she buried her head deeper into Soul's chest nuzzling him lightly. "And if I don't."

He smiled gently before planting a small kiss on the top of Maka's head. "Then I'll be here to save Superman."

Neither noticed someone else blatantly watching them and steaming in pure fury.

* * *

Keep writing- FFG


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Soul Eater and as promised, here is the next chapter. So happy that I managed to upload it because I had the most wonderful thing happen to me today. I am officially engaged to the love of my life! (and therefore want everyone to know) Anyway, hope you all enjoy. :D

WYRW- Chapter 3

In retrospect, Maka supposed that she shouldn't have been that surprised that Hiro saw her and Soul talking… and hugging. She couldn't keep her cheeks from heating up at the very thought of that moment.

"He's trying to steal you away from me Maka!"

Maka's blush immediately faded. "Hiro, you're being ridiculous. Soul is not trying to steal me away from you. He's a gentleman, unlike you apparently!" she yelled back before storming away.

She was pissed. She had been in the middle of hugging Soul, when suddenly a hand had reached out, yanked her away from him, and began to drag her off. Thankfully for Hiro's sake she had realized it was him before reacting too violently towards him, and upon looking back at Soul he didn't seem too upset. But he was probably just happy that she was going to get the chance to actually talk to her boyfriend. Too bad he was wrong.

Maka was quickly coming to the conclusion that Hiro didn't want to talk to her, he just wanted to yell at her, and frankly it was pissing her off. From the moment that he had begun dragging her away he was either yelling or just lecturing her about everything she was doing wrong to ruin their relationship.

How he had been waiting for her after her first class and started worrying so much the moment that she didn't come out of class. How he had called her a billion times and she had never picked up. Never mind that her phone was currently on silent because she was at school. How he was so worried that she had been kidnapped or something worse and was about to call the police when he saw her in the arms of another man who was kissing her!

First of all she was irritated because frankly Hiro made her sound like this damsel in distress who couldn't do a thing without him there looking over her. She was not a damsel in distress! Sure she wasn't exactly perfect, but she was not weak and she could take care of herself for the most part. And secondly, "He did not kiss me!"

"Yes he did!"

Maka threw up her arms in frustration. For the past _two days _Hiro had been pissed with her because apparently Soul had kissed her, which made absolutely no sense because he didn't! "Talk to me again once you have your head out of your ass Hiro!" She yelled knowing it was childish of her, but frankly she couldn't care less.

"This discussion is not over young lady!"

He didn't really just call her that did he?! Geez, he sounded more like her father than her boyfriend. She was currently storming away from Hiro already on campus heading to her first class of the day. You would think with as busy as Hiro was that he would have something better to do that follow her to school and give her a lecture, but apparently he didn't.

"Fine you know what, I'll admit that Soul kissed me."

"Hah you admit it!" Hiro said looking more happy to have won the argument than what winning meant for him.

Maka rolled her eyes, "You didn't let me finish. I'll admit that Soul kissed me, when he actually does!" And with that she walked away … right into Soul.

"Maka?" he asked obviously quite confused at the last statement she had pretty much screamed all over the campus.

"Soul," she blushed heavily at her words. Of course he would just happen to run into her right after she said something like that.

"What are you talking about with your boyfriend?" he asked seemingly confused, but the light pink spreading across his cheeks did not go unnoticed by Maka.

For a moment Maka simply floundered with her words, not sure of what exactly to say to Soul much less how to say it. "We're talking about how you kissed my girl," Hiro quickly interrupted stomping up to the two of them and shoved his body in between Maka and Soul, meanwhile pushing Maka back forcefully.

"Hey, be careful," Soul quickly retorted eyes only on Maka, looking for some sign that she was okay. Upon seeing that she was still glaring at her boyfriend though, he immediately came to the conclusion that Maka was just fine.

"Don't tell me what to do," Hiro instantly countered. Soul simply rolled his eyes in response

"Hiro stop being such a jerk," Maka quickly interjected herself between Soul and Hiro, pushing her boyfriend away from her friend flashing him a small sympathetic smile.

"He's the one who's a jerk, kissing other people's girlfriends," Hiro quickly shot back at Maka.

"Hey Maka, I'm gonna get to class, I'll talk to you later," Soul said wearily. He did not understand what exactly was going on between Maka and her boyfriend, but even if it meant good news to him, he didn't really want to be around to witness a breakup. Not to mention even if they were breaking up, it was really awkward just standing there and being blamed for things that he certainly didn't do.

However, that's when the idea hit Maka. In retrospect, Maka realized much later that such an idea certainly wasn't good and she probably shouldn't have acted on such angry impulses. Then again, she would eventually understand that perhaps her actions weren't all based on irritation.

"Stay," she instantly directed Soul, which quickly froze in place awkwardly. Then she turned back to Hiro, "Would you be happy if I admitted you were right and that Soul kissed me?"

"Yes!" He shouted rudely in her face.

"No matter what?!"

"Yes!"

"Well fine then, I'll give you what you want," she quickly retorted before whipping her head around and storming over to Soul.

Looking up at her friend she gave him a small smile. "I apologize in advance for pushing you into this," she said decisively before grabbing the front of Soul's jacket and yanking him before vehemently attaching her lips to his.

If Maka'd had any sort of reasoning before her lips touched Soul's, it quickly flew out the window. Suddenly any and all thoughts left her head and all she knew was that Soul was really really good at this. What had originally been planned to be a short and fierce kiss, quickly became something much more slow and deep, as Soul's lips coaxed hers into submission.

Pulling away Maka couldn't think. All she could do was stare at Soul wordlessly as he stared just as intensely back at her. Right then, in that moment, Maka felt like her heart was expanding to the point that it almost hurt. She didn't even realize such a reaction was possible, and from a simply kiss at that.

However, their moment was quickly shattered. "What the hell was that Maka?!"

Maka turned to her boyfriend as reality slammed back into her. "Y-you wanted me to admit to Soul kissing me, and the only way I'd do that is if it was true." Her voice was much weaker than it had been before. The ramifications of her actions were beginning to sink in. "So I made it true."

Hiro's mouth opened, and then it closed. He was obviously so overcome with rage that nothing was coming out anymore. "We'll finish this discussion later!" he demanded before storming away with nothing more to say.

She found herself sighing in slight defeat. "I'm sure we will," she whispered under her breath.

Turning back around, she was surprised to see Soul exactly where she had left him. She could feel a blush quickly overcoming her entire face as she simply stared back up at him.

"Sorry!" she squeaked out before slapping her hands over her mouth in pure humiliation.

Soul hadn't moved since the kiss, but Maka blushing in front of him and apologizing for something that never in a million years would he want her to apologize to him for, quickly broke him out of his trance. He laughed. He couldn't help it. The whole situation was so ridiculous that he couldn't keep himself from laughing at the two of them and even more so at himself for being sucked up into something so absurd.

"Don't worry about it Maka," he managed to get out between laughs. "Just give a guy a heads up next time okay."

And with that Maka caught herself smiling as her mortification began to die down. Yeah, she hadn't executed the most brilliant of plans, but she certainly hadn't alienated one of her closest friends. Therefore, all in all, she couldn't be too upset that things had gone the way they had. Then again, she couldn't help but wonder when her heart was going to calm down.

Maka didn't know that that would be the last time she would ever speak to Hiro again for a long time. That afternoon when she got home from class she found a message on her machine from Hiro saying that he wanted to talk but he also wanted to take her to dinner and a movie and to meet him at 7 in front of the movie theater. Maka showed up at 6:45, but Hiro never showed. As if the clouds were foreshadowing the couple's demise, they had begun building all afternoon and by the time it was 7:15 it was raining harshly outside. Not having bought tickets to a movie yet, Maka carefully stood under the theater's awning attempted to not get wet.

By the time 7:40 rolled around, Maka was extremely irritated with her boyfriend. After he had backed off the entire afternoon, she had hoped that they might be able to reconcile and return to some sort of semblance. But now, she wasn't really sure she wanted to. Not if this was what he considered acceptable. She decided that the first lull in the rain, she would return home.

Unfortunately for Maka, there were no lulls in the storm. She was surprised when she got Hiro's text though.

_Hey Maka, I went to lunch with a couple of girls today and realized that I'm not ready to settle down just yet so I think we should break up. But hey, you cheated first with Soul so you can't blame me. Later!_

For a moment Maka was numb. She couldn't comprehend what Hiro was trying to say. She simply stared at the text dumbfounded not even noticing as the wind began to pick up and her legs began to get wet from the angled rain. Maka didn't know for how long she stood there, she only knew that something was wrong and apparently it was her fault.

Being dumped, no matter what the surrounding circumstances wasn't supposed to feel good, and she certainly didn't feel decent by any means. However, she didn't just feel bad about herself, she felt as if she was to blame. She had cheated on Hiro. She had kissed another guy while she was together with Hiro. She had become that worthless cheat just like her father was. She had essentially become the thing she hated more than anything else.

Maka didn't even realize she was crying until a tear dropped on her hand. Reaching up and touching her face, she realized that moisture was dripping down her cheeks and it certainly wasn't from the rain. Without thought, she stepped out into the thunderstorm not even bothering to put her cell phone back in her purse. She deserved to get soaked, she deserved to be hurt by Hiro, after all, she was a cheat and it was her fault that this entire relationship had failed.

Looking back down, she stared at her cell phone screen and Hiro's message, reading it over and over and over again. She had cheated first.

Maka would never be able to tell anyone for how long she was out their standing in the rain wishing it could cleanse her bad deeds rather than just soak her to the bone. She did remember someone calling, probably Tsubaki, but she refused to answer. Instead she canceled the call and went back to Hiro's text. She didn't deserve anything more than his text.

"Maka!"

She didn't look up. They were probably looking for someone else, whoever they were. She continued to stare at her phone.

"MAKA!"

She startled at the sound of a horn right after her name. And there right in front of where she was standing on the sidewalk was Soul, straddling a motorcycle. He quickly propped up his bike, swung his leg over the top, and jogged up to her.

"Holy Fuck Maka, you're soaked," he said upon grabbing her shoulders before releasing them as if they burned him. "What the hell do you think you're doing just standing out here in the rain like this," he shrugged off his jacket, although it looked just about as soaked as Maka felt. He wrapped it around her shoulders forcing her arms into the much larger clothing. "Tusbaski said she saw Hiro at the restaurant her and Black Star were on a date at and when she questioned him on where you were… well, she figured out you weren't with him pretty fast when two other girls came up to Hiro's table." Soul rubbed her arms through the jacket, obviously trying anything to warm her up as he continued to ramble. "She said she called you but you didn't pick up."

Not much was registering in Maka's brain, but the idea of picking up her phone did. She held out the wet device to Soul as if trying to wordlessly communicate with him.

"You have your phone right here though so…"

He took the cell in his hands and read the text message that she had left up on the screen. Looking back up, he was met with Maka obviously trying to keep from crying, and failing.

"Oh Maka."

And that's all he had to say before she completely broke down into frantic sobs. Pulling her into his embrace, Soul simply let her hold on to him as she cried harder than she could ever remember. He didn't mind that he got completely soaked in the rain. All he knew was that he never wanted Maka to feel this hurt again.

Maka wouldn't remember the motorcycle ride back to her apartment. Something about the delirium of crying so hard and being out in the rain for so long kept her from really knowing what exactly was going on. Knowing better than to try and do everything on her own, she simply handed Soul her keys when he pulled up to her apartment complex. He led her gently to her room without saying a word, unlocked the door, and brought her inside, which brought on a whole new set of tears.

"How can I help Maka?" he asked gently pulling her over to her worn couch and sitting down next to her.

"You shouldn't be helping me or being so nice," Maka sobbed covering her face with her hands. "You should hate me, cause I'm a terrible person."

Suddenly she felt something slip under her legs and something sneak behind her back before she was swiftly moved onto something much warmer, Soul's lap. "You are not a terrible person by any means, I don't care what you say."

Soul continued on, knowing better than to let Maka get in a single word in the state that she was in. "Just because someone broke up with you doesn't mean that you are to blame or unworthy or whatever other crap you might be thinking."

"This isn't because he broke up with me," Maka wailed into Soul's shirt as she clasped onto it and hung her head down in shame as sobs continued to rack her body.

He was startled by that. "It's not."

"No!"

"You're not crying because Hiro broke up with you?" he asked, the confusion clear in his voice.

"No… yes… I don't know," she whispered as her.

They sat in silence for a while as Maka's tears began to diminish as she simply let Soul rock and hold her.

"Tell me what you do know then," she heard him whisper in her ear.

She wanted to smile, but all that came out was a half sob. "I'm a skank, I'm a cheater, I'm a whore. This is all my faul-"

"Shut the fuck up Maka," Soul said so calmly, she was more surprised than if he had yelled at her. She tried to pull away, but Soul wouldn't have any of that and simply pulled her back to himself strongly.

"But I cheated on-"

"You never cheated on Hiro, the dumbass," Soul said rather assertively. He sighed, "You didn't exactly do the smartest thing this morning, but the guy was egging you on and pretty much asking you to kiss me, so that's not your fault. It's not not your fault, but it's not completely your fault. Does that make any sense?"

Maka couldn't help it, she laughed. Something about Soul rambling in her apartment while they were both completely soaked on her couch just made her rather delirious.

Sough sighed rubbing the back of his neck, "That was so not cool of me."

She laughed even harder and pulled away to look up at Soul's face, who was now smiling despite his rather shitty pep talk toward her. "No, it wasn't cool at all," she agreed as he made a face. But that's when she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, "But thank you."

"Anytime Maka, anytime," he answered as he pulled his arms even tighter around the girl in his arms.

* * *

Maka's eyes gently fluttered open as she groggily sat up on her bed rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She surprisingly felt refreshed despite the early hour, she noted on the clock on her living room wall. 4:30 a.m. It was way too early to be up, but it was one of those rare moments that Maka felt rather awake despite the time. Looking around, she realized that she was still in the still slightly damp clothes that she had worn yesterday… and what she thought was a blanket covering her, was actually a man's leather jacket.

For a moment, she simply stared at the jacket stupidly thoroughly confused as to where it might have come from. She had never seen Hiro wear something of the sort so- her mind froze.

Hiro.

And just like that, the events of the previous night came flooding back in a rush. She couldn't help but feel her throat tighten painfully as she gripped the jacket in her hands. She just felt so dirty.

Without thought, she dropped the black jacket to her bedroom floor as she quickly stood up and strode out of her room heading to the bathroom. She needed to shower, she needed to get clean, even if she knew she was really a filthy person on the inside.

Throwing open her door she froze as her breath caught in her throat. For there, on her couch, softly snoring, was Soul. He was just in a simple orange shirt and jeans, but looking at him, she couldn't help but think she had never seen him in anything other than his black jacket. Glancing back into her room, she saw the vary jacket was the same that she had just dropped on her floor.

Cautiously, Maka tiptoed over to the garment and carefully picked it up, almost as if it were made of glass. Thinking back, she couldn't remember ever going to bed. In all honesty, she was pretty sure that she had passed out on the couch. Which could only mean one thing.

Her cheeks flamed red in embarrassment. Had Soul really carried her to bed last night? Peering back out into the living room at the deeply asleep Soul, she could only hope that she hadn't said anything too humiliating in her tears the night before, and that she didn't weigh too much. God, that would be mortifying if he'd had to strain under her weight. Unconsciously, Maka walked silently over to her couch holding Soul's jacket close to her chest almost as if it were a safety blanket.

Soul stirred for a moment, making Maka freeze, before settling back down as drool dripped out of the corner of his mouth. Maka scrunched her nose in disgust, but the thought of waking him up never crossed her mind.

For a moment she just stared at him. He was so damn nice. Then she remembered how he had called her weirdo and tiny so many times and she grimaced. Nice was definitely not the word to describe Soul. Without any thoughts on her actions, Maka slowly slid down to the ground in front of her couch leaning back against it lightly, making sure not to touch Soul in fear that he might wake up.

She leaned her head back in deep thought. Soul… was confusing. He was such a bastard so much of the time, and yet at other times he really had his friends' backs. She couldn't count the amount of times he had come through for her, and she knew that he had covered for Black Star and multiple occasions. He was just that kind of guy. She always felt at ease at his side and knew she could trust him despite his "cool" tendencies. Maka snorted lightly. Why he felt the need to be so cool she wasn't sure she'd ever know, but she had to admit it was kinda cute.

Maka pulled her knees up to her chest and let her forehead lightly fall against them while she still cradled Soul's jacket in her arms. What was she doing? She couldn't help but muse to herself while she let out a small sigh. Why was she out here in the middle of the damn night thinking about Soul of all people? Sure he was asleep right behind her, but shouldn't she be asleep too?!

Then again, thinking back Maka shivered at her previous thoughts in her room. It was funny. Not funny in a laugh out loud sort of way, but funny in an amusing sort of way. She had felt so dirty standing in her room all alone. But with Soul here, even if he was asleep, she didn't feel that way at all. She felt stupid for her actions leading up to Hiro and her break up, and she felt tired from crying all night, but mostly she just felt sad that things had ended so badly. After all, Hiro had been her first boyfriend, and while she hadn't expected it to last forever kind of thing, every girl dreamed that her first boyfriend would be her last.

The only thing that made Maka feel much better, was the fact that she hadn't given her virginity to the boy. She hadn't ever even said "I love you," to him. In fact, she knew she didn't love Hiro at all. She had been on her way to that point, but it was definitely wasn't going to get there any time soon. Looking back, she actually saw more annoyance with Hiro than anything else.

Soul groaned softly shifting on Maka's couch. She froze in response, the small hairs stiffening on the back on her neck until Soul had settled back down. Soul.

Her thoughts immediately shifted back to him. She trusted him. She wasn't one to trust easily, if at all. Her father had made sure of that when he revealed himself for the cheating scoundrel he was. But Soul, he had waltzed his way into her life, and now only mere months later, she really trusted the guy. He was just…. Soul.

Resting her head back against the couch, Maka found that she was more confused than ever. It was becoming clear to her just how much she enjoyed Soul's company over these last few months, even more so than her boyfriend. Her ex-boyfriend.

She closed her eyes trying to relax.

"What are you thinking about?"

Maka jumped awake as her eyes popped wide open and she gasped in surprise. She slowly turned around at the sound of Soul's laughter behind her.

"Shit! You scared me."

He only continued to laugh. "I figured that."

She frowned, "Meanie."

That only made him laugh louder as he threw his feet to the ground and sat up on the couch. Glaring at Soul, Maka slowly moved her hands up to the couch and pulled herself up onto it so that she was sitting beside him.

"You are too amusing Maka," he said between chuckles as he slid closer to the girl and elbowed her lightly in the side. He was smiling generously at her, and she couldn't help but let a small smile grace her lips despite trying to keep a stern glare on him.

"And you're ridiculous," she shot back shoving him with her own shoulder lightly.

For a moment the two of them simply sat leaning against one another slightly. It was then that Maka felt any weariness hit her for the first time since she had awoken. Yawning, she laid her head gently on Soul's shoulder and closed her eyes, enjoying the comfortable silence between the two of them.

It was then that Maka realized just how comfortable with Soul she was. She didn't have to talk and neither did he. They could just sit in absolute silence feeling each other's presence and simply enjoy it. At least, Maka could. And she certainly hoped that Soul was enjoying this moment as much as she was.

Then again, when she woke up the next morning, practically in the same position just with Soul's arm around her shoulders and his head resting back on top of her own, she supposed that was proof enough that he probably did.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed. The next update should happen next Thursday.- FFG


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for being so late with the update. Unfortunately I'm not sure if I'll be able to update this on Thursday, but I will do so as soon as possible. Luckily for you, there's only one chapter left after this one! :)

I do not own Soul Eater. Hope you enjoy!

WYRW- Chapter 4

The next couple of weeks were long for Maka, but with each passing day she realized that she was happy, as strange as it sounded. Suddenly, not having to worry about Hiro cleared up her schedule for some much needed time studying and hanging out with friends, such as Tsubaki, and her fellow co-workers Liz and Patty.

Actually, when her extremely girly and confident friend Liz found out the whole story behind Maka's break up with Hiro, she not only threatened to mangle the guy (her and Patty could be rather intimidating when they choose to be so) but she also insisted on hanging out much more with Maka than she ever had before.

Maka suddenly found herself quite busy between work, spending time with friends and hitting up the bar scene, lunches with Tsubaki plus their study dates, and studying for all of her finals. However, as much as she found her friends' newfound enthusiasm to hang out with her, she appreciated the time she spent with Soul more than anything else.

Never before had Maka really gotten to spend an unlimited amount of time with the guy, mostly due to the fact that she had a boyfriend. Now, she found herself constantly hanging out or texting with him. It had actually become habit for them to go to lunch together after every history class they had together, and she found herself enjoying herself more than she had thought possible.

In all truth, Maka was beginning to realize all the things she thought she wanted in a guy and thought she had found in Hiro were completely wrong. Furthermore, she had to force herself not to automatically compare her ex's characteristics with Soul's. It also didn't help that every time she headed to lunch with Soul Tsubaki would proceed to give her a look very similar to the ones she gave her best friend when she had first went out with Hiro, or when she mentioned him to Patty the girl would begin to giggle incessantly, and never mind talking about Soul to Liz because she immediately waggled her eyebrows or would talk about his quality characteristics… like his ass.

It made her blush just to think about her and Soul in such a way, and when the day came that Soul caught said blush on Maka's cheeks and wouldn't let her drop the subject, she knew that she had to talk to Tsubaki about it.

"So why did you insist on having lunch with me today instead of Soul?" Tsubaki asked getting straight to the point with the way she said Soul's name as if Maka had something to hide. It made Maka's cheeks light up all over again.

"I just wanted for us to talk a little bit," she answered back trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Maka, I may not be able to read you as well as Soul can, but I certainly can tell when you are hiding something."

She sighed lightly. "I'm just concerned that you and everybody else is projecting, uh, feelings… on the whole," Maka flailed her arms slightly, "Soul thing."

"What whole Soul thing?" Tsubaki asked rather innocently.

Maka's blush deepened as she sank down into her seat and picked at her food. She couldn't let this get the best of her though, she had to talk to Tsubaki about it, or she would burst. "Soul's a really good friend and it's been really nice being around him more."

Tsubaki smiled, "Yeah, he's really protective of his friends isn't he."

Grinning, Maka couldn't help but nod her head in agreement remembering the first time her and Soul met and despite that he had insisted on being the gentleman and waiting with her and then even walking her to work. Though she supposed that was how Liz had managed to ever catch a glimpse of the guy.

"He's really been there for me ever since the breakup," she admitted softly looking down at her food lost in her own thoughts.

She missed the small frown on Tsubaki's face, "He's been there for you since before that too right?"

Maka's head quickly popped up and she quickly began to defend her previous statement, "Well yes, he's been a really good friend ever since I met him honestly, but I just mean since the breakup I've gotten to spend a lot more time with him and he's just helped me through a lot of stuff and really been there for me and I just owe so much to hi-"

"Maka!" Tsubaki interjected laughing at her best friend. The girl immediately paused her rant blushing and then proceeded to poke at her food nervously once again. "I know what you mean Maka," Tsubaki continued on smiling.

"Good," Maka said looking back up apprehensively. "I just wanted to make sure you knew he was a really good friend of mine."

Tsubaki nodded. "Yes I know."

"Like a really really good _friend_."

"Soul's a great friend, I get it Maka."

Maka sighed, "Good."

"So are you going to go to Soul's upcoming piano concert?" she asked changing the subject.

"Definitely, he's not letting me see him play until then the big meanie."

It wasn't until that night that Tsubaki really understood what Maka was trying to say and she couldn't help but almost curse at the way she had handled lunch with her friend. It appeared that Maka thought Soul was _only_ a really good friend and certainly didn't realize how much the guy was crushing on her. Tsubaki immediately swore to help Maka see what was right in front of her and understand that she obviously liked him a bit more than friends.

Even though Maka did not have History the next day she had already made plans with Soul for lunch to make up ditching him the previous day for Tsubaki. She found herself not only looking forward to it but almost nervous, which in retrospect was rather silly as she had just seen him the previous day, but Maka simply shrugged it off.

She was happy to have cleared things up with Tsubaki though. After all, even** if** Maka liked Soul there was no way he would go for a girl like her.

"What are you frowning about?"

Maka jumped in surprise, immediately whipping her head to the side to face Soul.

"Will you please stop giving me heart attacks," she fussed motherly as she clutched her heart in a weak attempt to slow it back down.

Soul chuckled lightly, "Not until you tell me what was up with that face just now."

Catching her breath Maka answered. "Just thinking about some things Tsubaki and I talked about yesterday," and with that she was off walking quickly towards the on campus cafeteria.

Eyeing his friend, Soul quickly followed debating about bugging Maka for more information or not.

However, before he could ask, she had started talking once again. "So what's this concert going to be like that you're performing in? Like what kind of music are you going to be performing? Is it all classical or what?"

He smirked, "I thought I told you that it was a surprise."

She frowned, "But why does it have to be."

Laughing, Soul jogged slightly in front of her and turned around so that he was walking backwards, "Because it's fun to tease you," and with a wink at Maka's blush he was off running again. "Bet I'll beat you to the cafeteria!"

Maka was immediately thrust back into the real world as her competitive nature got the best of her, "You're on!" and she took off running as well.

"Geez, you never lose at anything do you," Soul commented dryly from where him and Maka paid for their food before heading over to some empty seats nearby.

"It's your own fault for challenging me you know," she said as she took a seat.

"Well it's not my fault that you're good at everything," he whined, picking up on Maka's blush but choosing to ignore it. "When do I get to win?"

"When you play the piano and then listen to me fail at playing any music instrument," she answered back slyly raising an eyebrow at Soul.

He just laughed to himself seeing exactly where Maka was going with this topic. "Do you really think that I'm going to say anything about the concert when I refused to outside?"

Maka rolled her eyes, "Well it was worth a try," she reasoned out loud before taking a bite of her burger.

"Nice try but you'll have to be a bit more tricky to get anything else out of me."

"I take that as a challenge."

"Take it how you want Maka," he said winking once again. She merely answered with a small blush once again and by taking another bite of her food.

Needless to say, Soul was rather proud of the reactions he was inciting out of Maka. Ever since him and Maka had instated these biweekly lunches, he had made it his personal goal to make Maka blush as much as possible. Perhaps he was moving fast considering it hadn't been that long since her and Hiro had broken up, but he had seen other boys around the campus eyeing her and quite frankly he refused to let any one of them ask her out before he had the chance to. However, he needed to make sure that she actually liked him before asking her out because after spending so much time with this girl, he knew that he wasn't going to let go of her once they went out.

He wasn't thinking super long term like marriage and babies and yikes all that could wait for all he cared. But he knew that Maka wasn't some girl to simply have a fling with, and he wanted everything with her.

"So Maka, what were you and Tsubaki talking about yesterday anyway?" he asked smoothly.

Maka immediately looked as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar and suddenly she refused to meet Soul's eyes with her own. "Nothing much, things, events,… people."

"Oh what kind of people?" Soul prompted quickly picking up her unease with that subject in particular.

"Just people, ya know, girl stuff," she answered vaguely still refusing to look up at Soul.

"Oh so you were talking about boys then," he concluded before taking a bite.

Maka's cheeks immediately flared up, "Like I said, girl stuff."

Soul simply shook his head in response. "None of this vague answer stuff anymore. I want the truth and all of it," he said grinning cheekily at the girl.

"Nosey much," Maka immediately shot back, hoping to distract Soul with insults.

He laughed loudly, "Not gonna distract me that easily Maka, and for your information I'm just extremely curious." Her cheeks which had just begun to calm back down immediately heated up once more. "Tell you what," he continued, "I'm only going to ask you five questions about yesterday and you have to answer them completely and then I won't bug you any more about it."

Maka narrowed her eyes, "Two questions," she countered.

"Three questions, and I'm not going any lower," he retorted smirking at her because the fact that she hadn't immediately retaliated meant that she was going to agree to his demands.

"Fine," she answered back as she crossed her arms, "But at least one of them has to be a yes or no question."

Soul smirked, "Fine by me considering one of them was already going to be." Maka rolled her eyes, but she knew if this had been a competition Soul definitely would have just won.

"Fire away."

"Were you guys talking about boys yesterday, yes or no," he asked trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Yes," Maka answered simply as she took another bite of her food trying to keep her face as emotion free as possible.

"That's it no more details?" he asked knowing exactly what Maka was trying to do.

"Is that one of your questions?" she countered smirking at him.

Soul smirked at that, "You're so damn cheeky. Alright then, next question: Did you and Tsubaki talk about me?"

Maka realized that making herself not blush was going to be an issue today, and quite honestly she wasn't up to that challenge. "Yes," she squeaked out suddenly intensely interested on her hands in her lap.

He loved the fact that he was getting to her, and that she had been talking about him with Tsubaki. Anything Maka had to say to Tsubaki was generally good natured, so it had to be a good thing that he had come up in conversation. Now he just had to push for the jackpot, what did they say about him? "Well I've asked two yes or no questions which means this last one I practically want an essay answer got it Maka?"

She rolled her eyes but on the inside her stomach was twisting itself into knots.

"What did you and Tsubaki exactly say about me?" he asked trying to keep his tone lighthearted and laidback. The last thing he needed was for her to think that he cared too much about what she was about to say.

Maka took a deep breath and then began to speak slowly, "I mentioned what a good friend you've been since me and Hiro's break up, although you've honestly been one of my best friends practically since the moment I met you." Maka forced herself to look up into Soul's eyes gaining confidence as she noticed his cheeks turning slightly pink. He obviously hadn't expected her to answer his question so seriously, therefore she had to continue. "We talked about how thankful I've been for having such a good friend these last few months and I don't know what I'd do without you Soul."

Her breath caught in her throat. While she hadn't said that exact thing to Tsubaki, she knew it was completely true, and now looking into Soul's dark red eyes she found herself wondering if she even should have cleared up things with Tsubaki as to the fact that herself and Soul were just good friends. Because quite honestly, Maka's heartbeat was telling herself something quite different at the moment. It was strange how just one quiet moment with Soul felt so much more intense than months of privacy with Hiro.

"Was there anything else?" Soul asked trying to keep his voice from shaking. He was impressed, after all, he figured that Maka was just going to throw out some joking answer and he'd have to coax anything else of real value out of her. She had definitely just surprised him.

She didn't even bother to berate him that that was an extra question, she just answered. "We also mentioned how protective of your friends you are. Why exactly is that Soul?" She couldn't bring herself to mention why she had talked about Soul with Tsubaki the other day, and she was rather curious as to why Soul was so intensely protective of his friends. Plus this shifted back the conversation to his end rather than hers.

Soul didn't answer right away, he was having a hard time processing everything Maka had just said. Sure it wasn't a confession, but it was so raw and obviously the unfiltered truth that he felt a bit embarrassed. Plus the question Maka was asking was rather personal and he didn't really want to talk about it.

"I've always been protective of my friends, but I guess it really started back when I was about ten years old," and yet here he was spilling his guts out to the girl. He couldn't help himself, he wanted to tell her everything about his life, just like he wanted to know everything about hers.

"When I was ten some burglars broke into my house."

Maka's eyes widened in surprise.

He smiled lightly, "Don't worry, no one was hurt because no one was home at the time. But when I first came home with my Mom, she kinda freaked out." Soul leaned back in his seat, he didn't like talking about his Mom while she was in such a weak state. "You have to understand, my Mom is not weak by any means."

"Yeah, you've mentioned her before and she always sounded really cool."

Soul couldn't help but smile, "She is very cool, but she likes to worry, especially about her kids."

Maka nodded knowingly, "You and Wes, right?"

"Yeah," Soul agreed, "She was really freaked that someone had broken in because she was suddenly afraid for me and Wes's safety, and she kept saying 'What if someone had been home, my poor boys could have gotten hurt,' over and over again."

Soul paused, "Honestly, looking back I think she was in a bit of shock."

"I can't blame her," Maka commented.

"Yeah, but basically it made me worry if anyone had been home and I realized I had no idea how to protect them." Soul's shoulders visibly relaxed as he began to wind up the story, "Soon after that I asked my parents to put me in self-defense classes as well as different fighting ones." He looked Maka directly in the eyes, "Because I want to protect the ones I love to the best of my ability if they are ever in trouble."

Maka could only nod at that as her breath quickened and her heart began to race. She needed to change the topic before it exploded or something. "So why do you like to make fun of your friends so much, like me and Black Star," she challenged trying desperately to lighten the mood.

Soul's laugh barked out. He had been highly aware of the increased tension between him and Maka and while he wanted her to know he could be serious, he didn't want to freak her out or something, so it was excellent that she could still give him a hard time. "I bug you and Black Star because you're so damn easy to mess with," he laughed as he quickly mussed Maka's hair just to get on the girl's nerves.

"Hey!" she shouted, ignoring the strange looks they received from other university students and nearby tables. She was laughing all the same though. "Is that why you were such a bastard to Black Star on the first day I met you?"

He had to think back carefully to what day Maka was referring to. "Oh, actually no. That was me just trying to get Black Star to ask Tsubaki out."

Maka cocked her head to the side as she brushed out one of her pigtails that Soul had messed up just moments before. "How did you know that he liked her that seriously though, I mean they had only been on one date at that point."

Soul laughed again, "Are you kidding. Ever since that date, the damn guy wouldn't shut up about her. He talked my ear off the entire weekend about how great she was and how great he was and then of course how damn great they were together." Soul sighed dramatically as Maka giggled at his slight frustration.

"I'd never see Black Star like that about a girl, so I knew she had to be special, but I also knew how thick Black Star is," Soul continued as Maka laughed once again, understanding exactly what Soul meant. "I knew that if I didn't push him in the right way he would never ask out the poor girl, and honestly I wanted him to shut up about her after a couple of days."

Maka giggled, "What a good friend you are then, setting up a friend just to shut him up."

Soul glared playfully, "You'd have done the same in my spot. You've never had to deal with an obsessed Black Star, trust me it's the most annoying thing in the universe."

She shook her head in disbelief, but still chuckled, "So why didn't you just tell him to ask her out."

"Because if I had done that Black Star would have just laughed and gotten a big head about himself being too amazing to ask out a girl," Soul said laughing and resting his head in his hands.

"You're kidding."

"Nope, he did it to multiple girls in high school. I'm speaking from experience."

Maka was almost doubled over in laughter, "Black Star must have been even worse in high school than he is now."

Soul nodded in agreement, "You have no idea. So I knew that I had to trick him into asking her out sooner rather than later, and thus why I was such a jerk to him about dating Tsubaki."

"Well I must say that's rather brilliant Soul," Maka complimented just happy that things had worked out so well for their two friends. "So question, about this piano recital?"

He laughed even harder, "It's gonna take a lot more to get any information about that out of me Maka."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! I'll be updating the last chapter asap :)

Keep writing- FFG


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Soul Eater. This is the last chapter of this fic. I hope you all enjoy!

WYRW- Chapter 5

If it was possible, over the next few weeks Maka and Soul became even closer and Maka was unable to deny to herself her growing attraction for Soul, though she still maintained that they were only close friends to anyone who might ask her otherwise. Unsurprisingly, this was rather often.

It also didn't help that they had begun to hang out a bit more with Tsubaki and Black Star, who had finally started to calm down and relax into their relationship. However, both seemed to think that Maka and Soul had something more than friendship going on. Countless embarrassing situations had arisen from that, and it didn't help that on these outings they were often confused for a couple by complete strangers.

Therefore, it was the time that Maka spent alone with Soul that was her favorite. It didn't even have to be anything special. Just curling up on the couch with him next to her while watching a movie was perfect in Maka's mind, and after he had fallen asleep on her couch numerous times she had insisted that he just take the spare key to her apartment.

She couldn't help but smile at the fact that Hiro had not slept over once at her place, much less was given a key, but she had no doubts about letting Soul that far into her life, and they weren't even dating. Although, she certainly wanted them to be.

Everything with Soul was just so easy. He wasn't polite like Hiro, instead he chose to give her a hard time about her bad hair days and studious nature, and in response she teased him for wanting to be so cool and about his lazy nature. Neither took any real offence, and Maka found that she rather enjoyed the strange sort of flirting that went on between them.

The day that Maka had plopped down on the couch practically on top of Soul in an attempt to annoy him, she realized that personality and ease of conversation were definitely not the only reasons she was starting to fall for this boy. He had been startled, but something about his eyes had almost darkened as he had leaned toward her in almost a predatory manner, and then he had tickled her causing the moment to end quickly. Then again, the position they had ended up in with him lying down on the couch with her between his legs, back against his chest, Maka hadn't minded at all. And apparently neither had he considering there were multiple movie nights that they wound up in the exact same position.

Simply put, things were good for Maka and Soul. They were practically attached at the waist, but neither really seemed to mind. Sure Maka sometimes got annoyed with Soul for leaving a mess at her apartment, and he got equally pissed at her for nagging him, and they would shout and yell. But then after a cooling period away from each other, which hardly ever lasted more than one afternoon, they would both apologize and move on.

Maka was beginning to realize that the range of emotions she felt with Soul was so much greater than the mere satisfaction she had felt with Hiro. When she thought of her happiest moments with her ex-boyfriend, it wasn't even close to the happiness she had experienced with Soul over these last few months. Sure she hadn't had the amount of blow ups with Hiro that she had experienced with Soul either, but that didn't really bother her. For once, she didn't feel the need to hold back and bite her tongue. She could be completely herself around Soul, and he didn't seem to mind. If anything, he seemed to appreciate her for it.

Plus, she could never deny that she loved getting around via Soul's motorcycle, and he always loved to have her. She wasn't sure if he really wanted **her** per say, or just someone to show off his beauty to, but she didn't care because she loved it.

For instance, just today he had given her a ride to his own end of the year concert.

The semester had slowly wrapped up for everyone, and even though Maka had been completely stressed out and busy, she also couldn't remember ever being this happy. Finals week she'd had five exams, but all of them were over by Wednesday. Soul had been the same, except for his end of the year concert that was on Friday.

As busy as Maka had been, Soul's schedule had been just as demanding. Maka didn't know what he had to do for his music classes, as she really didn't understand the subject in the least, but he was constantly spending hours on end in the music building doing something, only to come to her apartment afterwards looking completely drained and exhausted.

She had tried asking about what was stressing him out, but he always waved her off with a smirk saying that it was a surprise for the concert and that she would see soon enough. She tended to frown at that, but at the same time got small butterflies in her stomach. She didn't know if the surprise was just for her, but she liked to imagine that it was, and that made her almost giddy with excitement.

Now that it was the actual day of the concert, she was just nervous. Because, what if it wasn't just for her? In fact, it probably was a surprise for all of his friends, and that broke the illusion that Soul might just perhaps actually see her as more than just a friend.

The moment that they had arrived at the University auditorium Soul had to head backstage since he was one of the performers. Meanwhile, because this a formal concert, Maka had headed to the bathrooms to change from her jeans and t-shirt into something more appropriate: a long black dress and heels that made her feel more girly than anything she had ever bought for herself before. It was also nicer than anything she had ever worn for Hiro. Then again, she had never wanted to impress Hiro as much as she did Soul. It had taken her ages and a lot of arm twisting for her to get Soul to tell her that it was a formal concert a month before the actual date, but it would be totally worth it to see his reaction to her in this dress she was sure. Plus, even if he didn't react, she really did like this dress… still she hoped he liked it.

Because she had arrived with Soul, Maka had to sit around for a couple hours before other audience members began to show up. Therefore, when Black Star and Tsubaki showed up, they found her reading a book in the first row saving them seats.

"Hey Maka," Tsubaki greeted as she took a seat next to her friend. Just like Maka, her and Black Star were dressed for the occasion in a dark blue cocktail dress and suit and tie (that wasn't tied actually) respectively.

"Hey, how are you guys," Maka replied looking up and beginning to put away her book.

"We're amazing! We're Godly!" Black Star proclaimed loudly enough for basically everyone in the entire auditorium to look over.

Tsubaki merely smiled politely while Maka shook her head in embarrassment. "Good to know, so can you guys tell me anything about what Soul's gonna be performing today?"

"I didn't even know this was a formal thing until you told me, but I saw that they were selling programs in the hall if you wanted one," Tsubaki informed Maka.

"Thanks, I definitely do," Maka said standing up and heading out with a small wave trying to keep herself from rushing too much as it would be inappropriate. Part of her was just curious but another was hoping that it would hold a clue as to why Soul had been so busy these last few weeks.

The program actually did tell her exactly what Soul was going to play at the concert and when he would play, right before intermission. Unfortunately, she didn't have a clue what the song was that he was going to play. Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last time Maka cursed her lack of knowledge on music.

By the time Maka had maneuvered her way back to her seat, the lights had dimmed several times warning the patrons that the show was about to start. The actual moment that Maka plopped back down in her seat, the lights were lowering as the show officially started. She only had a moment to smile to Tsubaki, slightly sorry that they hadn't gotten to speak before the show, but relieved at the same time. Her stomach was so tight from nerves that she wasn't sure if she really would have been able to keep up a real conversation.

The show for the most part was extremely impressive with only a few mishaps such as a few sharp notes for a flutist and out of place squeaks for a violinist. Still, Maka was thoroughly enjoying herself even if much of the classical music made her a tad sleepy. She noticed Tsubaki's eyes drooping on several occasions, and surprisingly Black Star was rather quiet. Although when Maka did look over at him at one point between songs, he appeared to have fallen asleep. While Maka usually would have minded, she felt that a quiet Black Star was a good Black Star, even if he was asleep.

When it finally came time for Soul to perform, Maka couldn't help but sit up straight in her chair leaning forward slightly in anticipation. Meanwhile Tsubaki woke Black Star with a quick jab to the ribs, and thankfully the boy did not make a fuss as he saw his best friend take the stage in a pin striped suit with a red shirt underneath.

Maka watched Soul carefully as he confidently made it way on the stage and she cursed the fact that she couldn't help but notice how nice he looked in his pinstriped suit matched with a deep red undershirt. It was a bit different than all the other formal outfits the other performs had adorned, but it fit him so well that she liked it quite a bit more. Along with his messy white hair and red eyes, not only did he look sexy, but almost a bit dangerous. And Maka found herself liking it more than she knew she should.

Surprisingly, his eyes caught with hers for just a moment. His eyes widened ever so slightly, but besides that he had no reaction to her, but she was pleased. That's all she needed, and with it she blushed and looked down for just a moment before raising her eyes to meet his again. The same intense look that she had received from him so many times before met her stare, and this time she stared right back smiling sweetly.

Their moment only lasted a few seconds though before Soul had to tear his eyes away and take a seat at the piano. He slowly closed his eyes and it was as if he turned into a completely different person as he sat up pushing his shoulders back and lifted his hands to hover just over the keys of the beautiful grand piano in front of him. For a moment Maka couldn't breathe in anticipation. It felt as if the entire audience was holding their breath.

It was then that Soul hit the first note, deep and thundering, anyone who might have been asleep before certainly wasn't anymore. He continued to build his notes one upon the other making it feel as if something was about to happen, but if asked Maka never would have been able to answer what. However, just as suddenly as he had begun, Soul suddenly stopped and the auditorium was filled with silence for a couple seconds. Then softly, he began again softly with notes that seemed to clash but would come out to chords the melted softly away. It was creepy, but sturdy and unlike anything that Maka had ever heard. As he began to pick up speed and volume once again, building much more slowly this time, she felt her heart speed up and had the urgency to look behind her to check that nothing was there. It was fascinating, and Maka loved every moment of it for how much different and exhilarating it was. She was almost disappointed as he came to an abrupt end that clashed and blended while fading all at the same time.

As the notes faded everyone in the audience seemed to be frozen in time before the clapping began. Louder than it was for any other performer thus far, and Maka couldn't help but stand to her feet, and she wasn't the only one. Soon enough the entire auditorium were on their feet giving Soul a standing ovation. For the most part, Soul kept his cool, simply standing and bowing with a toothy smirk.

Maka beamed as his eyes caught again with hers and did not break contact until he had left the stage. It was only when the lights came back up that she found herself able to breathe once again and she could tell that she was definitely blushing.

"Maka, are you going to come out to the lobby, they have small snacks for free?" Tsubaki asked slowly knowing that Maka had been touched in a way by Soul's performance that she could never understand. Plus, by what had passed between the two after and before, Tsubaki knew that Maka might need to catch her breath. The sheer tension between the two was incredible.

"Yeah, just give me a second," Maka said not even looking at her friend before she plopped back down in her chair and took a deep breath. She simply was staring off into the distance obviously deep in thought as Tsubaki took a seat next to her rather than proceeding outside.

"Maka, I know that I've asked you this a million times, but honestly, is there something going on between you and Soul?"

It was a simple question that Maka usually would have denied without issue, but this time she paused. "No, nothing is going on."

"Do you want something to?"

Maka buried her face in her hands as her elbows rested on her knees. "Maybe," came out in a small whimper.

Tsubaki merely smiled.

"Then why don't you just kiss the guy!" Black Star suddenly shouted from right behind the two, making both jump in surprise.

"Black Star," Tsubaki warned as her best friend became red in the face and looked around to see if anyone had heard him.

"What?" He asked legitimately confused. "Both of them like each other and I'm tired of watching them dance around like two baboons not doing anything about it!"

As childish as Black Star was acting, it couldn't help but strike a chord with Maka, "Look, I may like him but he doesn't see me like that okay," she hissed continuing to look around making sure that Soul hadn't come out for the time being.

"You're kidding." Maka was surprised to see Tsubaki looking at her as incredulously as Black Star. Intent not to look at her friend Maka tried to distract herself by rummaging through her purse looking for her phone. After all, Soul might have texted her.

"Oh my gosh, you actually believe that he doesn't like you like that don't you?!" Tsubaki's voice was now getting to be as loud as Black Star's, who was looking downright proud of his girlfriend.

Just having found her phone Maka grasped the small object as she set her purse back down on the floor. "Look, Soul is very nice to me, but he doesn't treat me any differently than any of his other friends, no matter what you might say otherwise." She was trying to stay calm, but it was frustrating that her friends wouldn't drop the subject.

At this point Black Star was barking out laughs and practically rolling on the floor as Tsubaki shook her head in disbelief. "You're so dumb!" Black Star shouted between laughs. Maka was on the verge of punching the dumbass, but his next words actually surprised her. "I've known Soul all my life and he's never been as head over heels with a girl as he is with you!"

"He's just protective of me," she countered unable to believe him.

Black Star barked out another laugh as he continued, "Soul's protective of people like me and Tsubaki, his friends! He's in love with you idiot!"

Maka began to move towards Black Star once again ready to kick the guy's ass, "I am not an idiot."

This time, Tsubaki stepped in. "Yes you are Maka." Maka froze and looked back at her best friend more than surprised at her words, "You are an idiot if you can't see that boy has fallen head over heels in love with you, and the only reason he hasn't asked you out is because he doesn't want to be some rebound for you after Hiro."

"But he'd never be a rebound, you know I'm too practical to act without actually evaluating my feelings Tsubaki," Maka said desperately. It was true, she had thought so much about Soul lately that she had forced herself to really think about it and make sure she wasn't just latching on to him because he was the first good guy in her life since Hiro. And she was constantly reminded of how he was there for her before she and Hiro broke up and the attraction had been there too, though she never would have worked that out if it hadn't been for her and Hiro's break up.

"I know that Maka, but does Soul?" Tsubaki asked seriously.

Maka simply tried to digest the words that Tsubaki and surprisingly Black Star had just confronted her with. And that was the moment her phone lit up with a new text message… from Soul.

Based on the way Maka's eyes widened and her cheeks flared up as she looked at her phone, it was easy for Tsubaki to know exactly who it was.

"We'll be out in the lobby if you need any help, but you've got to decide if you're willing to take a chance on Soul," and with that both Tsubaki and Black Star walked away leaving Maka to her own devices.

Startled by the sudden turn of events in just the last hour, Maka sat back down in her chair staring back down at her phone. Slowly she opened up Soul's text.

'Meet me backstage after the show. Don't bother changing. I've got a surprise for you.'

Maka's heart couldn't help but speed up once again. Both Black Star and Tsubaki believed that Soul actually liked her, something that she had been convincing herself for the last couple months was so obviously not true. It just seemed too good to be true. But there were little things.

That moment he had come out on the stage and stared at her, it had been a moment. And the way he looked at her after the performance. A small shiver went up Maka's spine. It was unbelievable to her. Still, what if Tsubaki and Black Star were wrong. Sure her best friend and her boyfriend meant well, but what if they were reading all the signs wrong. What if Soul just saw her like a little sister or something? She'd have to wait for some other sign that he liked her, something from Soul himself. There simply was no other way.

Still if they were right, Maka smiled to herself. Thinking about Soul's text and what his surprise could be, she suddenly got very excited. Maybe he would ask her out. She knew she was being a little silly, but it was still exciting, and according to Tsubaki and Black Star, very possible.

She hardly even noticed when the lights began to dim once more and Tsubaki and Black Star took their seats next to her once again. She was much too busy smiling at Soul's text.

"Are you going to text him back, or just sit there grinning like a fool," Tsubaki asked teasingly as she looked over Maka's shoulder.

Blushing, Maka quickly typed a response back before placing her phone on silent and putting it away.

The second half of the show went much slower for Maka than the first, though she couldn't tell if it was because it was actually longer or she just was looking forward to the end so badly. The second half was more duos and trios rather than the first half that had only be comprised of solos, and while Soul did not participate in any of those, he did play his piano once more in the ending number in which everyone performed together. While it was not by any means at the difficulty level of many of the other pieces in the show, it was the only group number and therefore had a certain charm to it that the others had not.

It was a happy piece, which Maka could tell wasn't Soul's forte, but he played just as excellently as before looking almost bored with the song. Still she was proud, and joined in the standing ovation at the end of the concert along with everyone else in the hall.

Right before the curtains closed, Soul winked at Maka and she couldn't help but blush for what seemed like the millionth time that day. As Tsubaki and Black Star told her to tell Soul their 'good jobs and congrats' and made an excuse to leave with winks and shouts of good luck to her respectively.

Maka patiently waited for the performers to come out and meet up with their friends and family before disappearing once again into the back to grab their instruments and go. She wasn't surprised when Soul never emerged from the back room. After what seemed like hours, and at the same time only a few seconds, Maka finally headed into the back room.

She was surprised to see that Soul wasn't anywhere in the room, but on top of the upright piano there was a note that she easily recognized as Soul's handwriting. She cautiously followed it's directions to join him on the stage through one of the side entrances.

Maka entered the auditorium cautiously as the audience was completely dark and there was only one spotlight on the stage lighting up the grand piano and Soul who was sitting on its bench looking completely lost in thought. Coming up from behind him, Maka made a small cough sound in order to catch his attention.

Soul looked over his shoulder and grinned at Maka as she slowly made her way over to him.

"Hey," was the only thing that Maka could say suddenly overcome with shyness. She knew she was blushing but hoped that since she was partially in the dark Soul might not notice it.

He did, but wisely didn't mention it knowing he was probably doing the same. "Hey," he answered back trying to sound more confident than he felt.

Barely stepping into the spotlight, Maka stopped unsure of what to do or where to go. She merely held her hands in front of herself and smiled at Soul noticing his matching blush for the first time. She was trying not to hope for anything too bad, but couldn't help herself a little. "So what's this surprise you have for me?" she asked politely, unwilling to wait any longer.

Soul chuckled, "I knew you wouldn't be able to refrain from asking." He patted the bench beside himself, motioning to Maka to take a seat. She made her way over to him and sat down carefully though she couldn't keep herself from brushing up against Soul just slightly as she made herself comfortable.

He felt his heart speed up slightly at the small amount of contact she gave him, so he wasn't surprised when he had a hard time saying anything. Part of him just wanted to continue to look at her, as beautiful and comfortable as he had ever seen her, not to mention sexy. Yep, he definitely had a thing for black dresses. Or perhaps it was just Maka in black dresses.

She looked at him pointedly and he realized that he hadn't said anything once she had sat down, instead doing exactly what he wanted and simply staring at her. Forcing himself to calm down, Soul took a deep breath and started.

"I know these last few months have been hard on you Maka with the breakup and everything," he started forcing himself to refrain from touching the girl seated next to him as he spoke to her.

"It hasn't been that bad," she quickly interrupted him without warning. As she blushed even harder she continued, "I mean, thanks to you. I don't think I could have done it without you Soul."

He smiled, "You're always saying things like that Maka, and I don't think you know how strong you really are. Plus," he continued, not letting Maka get an edge word in. "You have no idea how much you've affected me ever since the moment that I met you."

Maka made a little squeak, obviously surprised at Soul's words. "Please let me finish before you say anything okay Maka?"

She merely nodded her head in agreement, though her eyes were still wide in shock.

Soul took Maka's hands in his own stroking the backside of each with his thumbs as his eyes connected with hers. "You inspire me Maka Albarn." She immediately looked down, refusing to meet his eyes in embarrassment. He simply took her hands in one of his and tilted her chin back up with the other. "You need to hear this." He paused, "You're the most brilliant, amazing, cool, girl I have ever met in my entire life."

"Soul," she started to protest, but he refused to have any of that.

"No, listen," she closed her mouth again as he spoke. "You have so much dedication to everything that you do and becoming friends with you this year made me realize how much I would love to even have one tenth of the dedication and passion that you possess."

"But I like that you're lazy," Maka suddenly blurted out, turning beet red immediately after.

Soul laughed hard. "I'm never gonna stop being lazy Maka, just like you're never gonna stop being a nerd," he chuckled as he lightly flicked her forehead and then took her hands back in his own. "But this isn't about that. This is about me wanting to want to do something so bad that I get lost in it, just like you get lost in doing your homework to the point that you can't even hear me talking to you."

Maka frowned cutely, "That was one time Soul."

He laughed again, "That you remember." She pouted, "I don't know how many times I've said something to you while you were working, only for you to merely grunt out a response."

She looked back down again in embarrassment, not wanting to talk about her faults like this. "Hey," he said moving to take her cheek in the palm of his hand, gently caressing her face as he lifted it back up. "This isn't about you being passionate, because I love that you get lost in your work like the big nerd you are." Maka was torn between scowling at Soul or smiling at him.

"What about playing?" she interjected. "Your performance was amazing, everyone thought so," she gulped, "And I was completely captivated by it."

Soul smiled, "I like playing other people's works, but it's always just been a mere pastime for me." Maka frowned sadly, "But," Soul interjected, "I was determined to find something that I could be as passionate about as you are, and I did."

Maka's face immediately brightened, "I had dabbled in song writing before, but it wasn't until this semester that I had a course on it, and quite honestly Maka, I fell in love with it." Seeing her eyes brighten, Soul couldn't help but expand on his feelings, "I've found that playing something that you made completely out of your head, can be one of the most liberating feelings in the world, and it's because of that, I had to write something for you."

"For me," Maka squeaked.

Soul grinned, "Yeah, I figured I had to thank you somehow."

It was then that he let go of Maka and turned to the piano in front of him. Maka got chills as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath just as he had before.

And then he began to play.

It was different from his first piece. It was dark, but did not make Maka anxious as before. It was intricate, but the way Soul's hands moved across the piano keys she could tell he could have played it in his sleep. It crescendoed into a moment of happiness only to take a more melancholy twist and that made Maka feel like crying. But what struck Maka the most about the song was how lonely it felt, almost as if something was missing.

And then it went very quiet but had a strangely happy feel to it, and just as the last note was fading out, Soul picked up his pace and it was if he had started playing an entirely different song. It was much happier with moments of melancholy, but it mostly made Maka feel like smiling. She could tell that it wasn't Soul's usual style, but it complimented the first half of the piece so much she couldn't help but love it. Quite honestly, it felt like home to her. It was then that she knew that this piece had been what Soul had been working on to the point of exhaustion.

Finally, Soul began to repeat the very beginning of the song, only to have the second half suddenly join in, and Maka understood. Apart, the two halves of the song were beautiful, but rather incomplete. It was only when Soul played them together that they were whole.

He ended it with a small new section of the two parts bouncing back and forth, only for them to come together one last time in two complimenting chords.

Maka found that she had been holding her breath at the end and finally released a breath. "That was amazing Soul," she whispered, feeling as if she was disrupting the spell he had cast over the entire room.

He grinned, "I'd certainly hope so, it's been a bitch to work on," he admitted, but obviously very pleased with himself.

"What do you call it?" she asked, refraining from correcting Soul on his inappropriate language.

Soul's expression suddenly became very serious as he looked Maka in the eyes, "I call it Dance of Souls."

She smiled, "Yeah, I could hear how there were two very distinctive parts, and only when they came together they felt complete."

Soul gulped, "Yep," he paused, "Actually the first part is supposed to be representative of my own soul."

Maka's breath caught in her throat, but she had to know. "Who's soul is the second part based on."

It was as if time stood still for a minute as Soul gently took Maka's hands in his own. "It's based on yours Maka."

By this point, Maka's heart was pounding harshly. This was a moment, no this was more than a moment. This was **the** moment, Maka had been waiting for, and yet only one question came to mind.

"Soul, are you in love with me?"

He froze for a moment, frozen like a deer in the headlights, before he was suddenly off the bench and standing at the edge of the spotlight facing away from her. And yet despite the distance, both of their hearts continued to beat rapidly.

"No, I'm not," Soul said as he turned to look back over his shoulder at Maka who was staring at him. He took a deep breath, "But I'm certainly heading down that path."

Maka continued to stare almost as if in a trance as Soul continued slowly, "You have to understand Maka, this has been a long time coming for me. I mean, did you know that I hated Hiro from the moment I met him." Soul's voice raised, "Not because he was a jerk, although the guy was an asshole, but because he had you."

By this point Soul had turned his body to face Maka and was speaking more passionately as he worked himself up. "And I knew that I could never break you guys up because firstly I'm not that kind of guy, and secondly, you were so damn happy with him!"

Maka stood up in concern, "Soul-"

"No you need to hear it all, because honestly I'm a terrible person. Did you know how happy I was when you and him actually broke up! Though all I really wanted to do was to go beat his ass for being such a bastard hurting you like that! Plus the ass was such an idiot for letting go of you! How could anyone ever want to let you go Maka! What kind of moron would let you go!"

"Soul-" Maka repeated but more from flattery than anything else.

He didn't seem to hear. "From the moment that you kissed me Maka Albarn that's all I've been able to think about!" Completely red in the face, Soul finally seemed to realize that he had been shouting all this time. "I've just… damn it Maka this is so uncool of me." Words began to rush out of his mouth, "Sorry for shouting, I think I'm just gonna leav-"

"No!" Maka rushed forward grabbing Soul's hands. The contact made Soul jump slightly but not enough for Maka to let go. She just didn't know what to say. Therefore, the two of them just stood there looking at each other as Maka's mouth opened several times and yet words never came out. Finally, she stopped thinking and just acted.

"Heads up," she said much to Soul's confusion, but it didn't last long, because the next moment she had risen on her toes and pressed her lips to Soul's.

Soul wasn't sure exactly what Maka was trying to tell him, but he certainly wasn't going to let her get away without a real kiss, so he immediately cupped her face softly caressing her lips with his own, and Maka was completely willing as she threw her arms around the boy's neck pulling herself as close to him as possible.

Neither thought as they continued to stand there and kiss each other as if there was no tomorrow. They both merely tried to convey the depth of their emotions holding on to one another. However, they could not kiss forever, and eventually the two began to release their grips on each other and Maka took a step back.

Maka was completely flushed and breathing hard as Soul simply stood there wide eyed and frozen. If Maka'd had any doubts before about her and Soul getting together, she certainly didn't anymore. Kissing Soul wasn't anything like kissing Hiro. It was off the charts when it came to comparing the two. But she did feel the need to clear a few things up.

"I wasn't happy with Hiro," Soul continued to stare at Maka blankly as she spoke. "I mean I was happy with him at one point or we wouldn't have been dating, but in the end," Maka smiled, "I wasn't happy at all. He just wasn't what I really wanted."

Soul gulped, "What do you really want then Maka?"

Maka smiled and looked Soul directly in the eye, "I want a sarcastic smartass who gives me a hard time as much as I give him one back."

Soul visibly relaxed as she continued, "I want an idiot of a boy who doesn't know the talent he has for cheering people up much less as a piano player." He grinned at that.

"I want a boy who I'm completely myself with, who I can scream at to the point of exhaustion only to come running right back to him knowing that I'd prefer no other."

Soul stepped forward and placed his hands on Maka's waist. "I want a guy with white hair and ruby eyes that make shivers go up my spine when he looks at me," she said as she lifted one hand to rest on Soul's shoulder while the other twirled a bit of his hair before she let it flip back up into its spike.

Maka then traced her finger down Soul's cheek as he gently pulled her completely against him. "I want a guy who makes my toes curl and takes my breath away with his kisses."

Soul chuckled deeply making the small hairs on Maka's neck stand on end and goosebumps form on her arms. "So who exactly does all those things for you Maka?" he asked calmly smirking at her.

She narrowed her eyes at him, but the smiled. "You know exactly who Soul."

He squeezed her gently, "Yeah, but I want to hear it from you."

"So cocky," Maka murmured under her breath.

"But…" He smirked in response.

Maka rolled her eyes, "I want you Soul."

And with that, he kissed her once again, but much harsher than before. Maka did not mind though as she ran her hands through his hair pulling at him just as aggressively. By the time they drew away from each other Soul's suit and Maka's dress were both beyond wrinkled and both were breathing heavily but with identical smirks, though Soul's was a bit more pointy than Maka's.

Eventually they both made it to their own respective gender's bathrooms to change back into normal clothes for the ride back to Maka's apartment. Coming out of the restroom Maka was pleasantly surprised when Soul took his hand in his own pulling her to walk next to himself out to the parking lot where his bike was located.

"So I meant to ask," he started, "what was with the 'heads up' thing?"

Maka blushed refusing to meet his eyes with her own. "Well, you told me when I kissed you in front of Hiro to give you a heads up next time, so I did."

Soul was silent for a split second before he erupted in thunderous laughter. Maka couldn't help but join in quickly after. It was in that moment that Maka realized, this was what she had really wanted all along.


End file.
